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Excerpts  from  the  Professional  Press  on  the  work  of 
DR.  WM.  STEKEL 

We  have  lacked  thus  far  a  systematic  clinical  application  of  Freudian 
analysis.  Stekel's  work  fills  this  need.  Jung,  in  MKDIZ.  KLINIK. 

...  A  standard  work ;  a  milestone  in  the  psychiatric  and  psycho- 
therapeutic  literature. 

Gen.  Sanitatsrat  Dr,  Oerster,  in  DIE  NEUE  GENERATION. 

It  would  be  regrettable  if  the  work  did  not  attract  fully  the  atten- 
tion of  the  scientific  world ;  its  deep  sobriety  and  the  fulness  of  its 
details  render  it  a  treasury  of  information,  primarily  for  the  physician, 
but,  in  large  measure,  of  interest  also  to  the  educationist,  the  minister, 
the  teacher  and,  not  least,  to  the  student  of  criminology.  .  .  . 

Horch,  in  ARCHIV  p.   KKIMINALOGIE. 

These  case  histories  will  be  read  with  great  interest  by  everyone, 
including  those  who  are  inclined  to  maintain  a  sceptical  attitude  towards 
psychoanalysis.  Eulenburg,  in  HEDIZINISCHE  ELINIK. 

Stekel's  work  teaches  practitioners  a  great  many  things  they  did  not 
know  before,  particularly  about  the  si|?nificance  of  psychology  and  sexual 
science  in  the  practice  of  medicine. 

Eitschmann,  in  INTEKNAT.  ZEITSCHHIFT  F.  PSYCHOANALYSE. 

It  is  Stekel's  extraordinary  merit  that  he  compels  us  to  take  into 
account  a  pressing  mass  of  data  which  he  brings  to  light  with  a  scien- 
tific zeal  which  is  unfortunately  still  rare, — facts  and  observations  so 
penetrating,  so  true  to  life  that  these  often  render  unnecessary  any 
formal  statement  of  the  obvious  deductions  which  flow  from  them. 

DIE  NEUE  GENERATION. 

The  most  modern  problems  are  considered,  new  viewpoints  are 
brought  out,  while  the  excesses  in  the  technique  and  interpretation  of 
the  earlier  stages  of  psychoanalysis  are  avoided. 

Kermauner,  in  WIENER  KLINISCHE  WOCHENSCHRIFT. 

All  in  all,  Stekel's  is  a  work  for  which  I  bespeak  the  widest  inter- 
est not  only  among  physicians,  but  also  among  jurists,  educationists, 
sociologists  and  ministers.  Only  an  understanding  of  the  mental  life 
of  the  individual  will  yield  a  proper  view  of  our  social  life. 

Liepmann,  in  ZEITSCHRIFT  F.  SEXUALWISSENSCH. 

The  work  is  a  treasury  for  all  who  have  occasion  to  probe  the  depths 
of  human  life  and  should  be  a  source  of  considerable  information  and 
stimulus  to  every  jurist  who  takes  in  earnest  his  professional  duties. 
Geh.  Justizrat  Dr.  Horch,  in  ARCHIV  F.   KKIMINALOGIE. 

It  does  not  matter  from  what  angle  the  work  of  Stekel  is  ap- 
proached. Any  consideration  of  it  reveals  rich  material.  Stekel  is 
a  writer  who  handles  his  subjects  in  a  lavish  manner ;  lavish,  but  with 
that  restraint  which  bends  all  to  the  urgency  of  his  themes.  He  evi- 
dently approaches  his  clinical  work  with  the  same  exuberant  interest. 
There  he  reaps  through  psychoanalysis  a  rich  harvest  of  results.  He  has 
collected  these  results  and  presented  them  for  the  dissemination  of  such 
knowledge  of  the  sexual  disturbances  as  he  thus  obtained.  Facts  are  there 
in  great  number.  They  cannot  be  gainsaid.  Stekel's  own  evaluation  of 
such  facts  and  his  earnest  plea  for  their  consideration,  both  by  the  medi- 
cal profession  and  by  the  society  of  men  and  women  where  these  facts 
exist,  can  speak  only  for  themselves  to  the  truly  conscientious  reader. 
There  is  not  much  in  these  books  that  the  psychotherapeutist  can  afford 
to  pass  over.  NEW  YORK  MEDICAL  JOURNAL. 


SEX    AND    DREAMS 


THE   LANGUAGE   OF   DREAMS 


BY 

DR.  WILLIAM  STEKEL 

(VIENNA) 

Authorized  translation  by 
JAMES  S.  VAN  TESLAAR,  M.D. 

(For  sale  only  to  Members  of  the 
Medical  Profession) 


BOSTON 
RICHARD  G.  BADGER 

THE    OORHAM    PRESS 


COPYEIGHT,   1922,  BY   RlCHAHD   G.    BADGER 

All  Rights  Reserved 


Made  in  the  United  States  of  America 


Press  of  J.  J.  Little  &  Ives  Company,  New  York,  U.  S.  A. 


TRANSLATOR'S  PREFACE 

Dr.  Wm.  StekePs  Language  of  Dreams,  of  which 
the  first  portion  is  herewith  presented  to  the  English 
reading  professional  ranks,  is  intended  as  a  guide 
to  the  interpretation  of  the  Unconscious  for  those 
who  are  concerned  professionally  with  nervous  dis- 
orders. The  balance  of  the  work  will  appear  as  soon 
as  the  demand  for  it  will  make  itself  felt. 

The  interpretation  of  dreams  has  become  an  in- 
dispensable aid.  Without  the  information  it  yields 
regarding  the  operations  of  man's  Unconscious,  the 
rational  management  of  nervous  ills  is  well-nigh  in- 
conceivable. The  art  of  dream  interpretation  has 
a  wider  field  of  application  and  elsewhere  Dr.  Stekel 
himself  has  applied  the  revelations  of  dream  analy- 
sis to  other  fields  of  scientific  inquiry.  But  the 
present  work,  The  Language  of  Dreams,  is  devoted 
almost  entirely  to  correlating  the  subjects'  dreams 
with  the  neurotic  character  traits  which  confront 
the  psychotherapeutist,  the  general  practitioner  and 
the  specialist  alike,  and  which  often  baffle  their  best 
efforts  in  the  absence  of  the  kind  of  knowledge  re- 
vealed through  this  very  art  of  dream  interpretation. 

As  one  of  the  pioneers  in  this  great  work  Dr. 
5 


6  Translator's  Preface 

Stekel,  of  course,  is  well  versed  in  the  theoretical  im- 
plications and  in  the  theories  which  form  the  foun- 
dation of  dream  analysis.  Nevertheless  in  his  Lan- 
guage of  Dreams  he  has  kept  strictly  to  the  practi- 
cal task  of  showing  "how  the  analysis  is  done."  The 
principles  of  dream  interpretation  are  not  discussed 
abstractly.  They  are  revealed  and  outlined  briefly 
in  connection  with  typical  illustrative  dreams. 
Throughout  the  work  the  emphasis  is  upon  practice. 
Abstract  speculation  is  reduced  to  a  minimum. 

Moreover,  in  preparing  this  volume,  the  author 
appreciated  that  it  must  be  made  serviceable  to 
many  practitioners  who  have  had  little  or  no  pre- 
vious training  in  this  kind  of  work.  The  contents 
are  carefully  graded,  the  interpretations  proceeding 
from  the  simpler  dream  elements  to  the  more  com- 
plex, and  from  the  superficial  to  the  deeper  layers 
of  symbolization.  At  the  same  time  the  author  him- 
self warns  us  that  the  whole  art  of  dream  analysis 
is  but  a  recent  scientific  procedure.  Numerous  de- 
tails remain  to  be  worked  out.  The  accepted  gener- 
alizations, he  points  out,  should  be  regarded  in  the 
light  of  working  hypotheses  rather  than  as  final 
principles,  and  the  consulting  psychologist  should 
test  them  out  for  himself. 

The  interpretation  of  dreams  is  far  from  being 
as  easy  a  task  as  appears  at  first  glance.  There 
are  numerous  pitfalls  for  the  unwary.  Dream  analy- 
sis is  a  task  that  calls  for  unusual  candor  and  pa- 


Translator's  Preface  7 

tience.  To  do  the  work  successfully  presupposes  an 
immense  amount  of  general  knowledge  and  a  broad 
cultural  background.  It  is  an  art  that  involves 
qualifications  of  the  highest  order.  Above  all,  one 
must  be  willing  to  go  through  a  rigorous  mental  dis- 
cipline in  order  to  approach  the  task  of  dream  in- 
terpretation without  any  preconceived  bias  and 
without  the  handicap  of  subtle  emotional  resistances. 

But  after  one  has  schooled  himself  to  the  task  the 
results  are  most  gratifying.  Properly  carried  out 
the  analysis  of  dreams  reveals  depths  of  the  human 
soul  hitherto  unsuspected.  It  fortifies  our  profes- 
sional endeavours  with  knowledge  of  the  highest  or- 
der. To  adopt  the  latest  scientific  methods  thus  in- 
creasing our  professional  efficiency  and  enlarging 
our  capacity  for  serving  our  fellow-men  is  a  grati- 
fying achievement. 

The  psychology  and  technique  of  dream  interpre- 
tation, so  skilfully  presented  by  Dr.  Stekel  in  the 
work  of  which  the  present  volume  is  the  first  portion, 
constitutes  a  most  important  method  for  getting  at 
the  vital  facts  underlying  our  mental  functions  dur- 
ing health  and  disease. 

The  time  has  come  for  the  English  reading  pro- 
fessional ranks  to  profit  by  Dr.  StekePs  expert  ap- 
plication of  psychoanalytic  principles.  Those  who 
desire  to  penetrate  the  riddle  of  dreams  as  a  means 
towards  increasing  their  knowledge  of  human  nature 
as  it  portrays  itself  reflected  in  nervous  ills  should 


8  Translator's  Preface 

find  the  present  work  an  invaluable  aid.  The  prepa- 
ration of  the  English  version  has  been  undertaken 
with  that  end  in  view. 

VAN  TESLAAE 
August  10,  1922, 
Brookline,  Mass. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTBB  PAGE 

I  The  meaning  of  symbolism — What  is  a  symbol? — 
The  dream  about  the  slain  woman — Lovesick  hu- 
manity— Dream  of  the  jealous  father — Dream 
and  myth 15 

II  The  analysis  of  a  simple  dream — The  dream  about 
the  telephone — The  ballad  of  the  poor  eagle — 
What  Mrs.  A.  thinks  of  the  act  of  telephoning  55 

III  Superficial  aspects   of  dream  interpretation — The 

moon   and   the  earth — The   "Rathaus"    dream — 
Representation  of  unbridled  life 73 

IV  Symbolism  of  the  sinking  tree — Representation  of 

Mother  Earth— The  fear  of  self 93 

V  Dream  masks — Pursuit  dreams — The  political 
dream  about  Bismarck — The  wonderful  villa — 
The  dream  about  the  baker — Contrary  meaning 
of  aboriginal  words — The  psychology  of  the  Don 
Juan  type — Savings  bankbook  and  love — Evil 
thoughts  of  childhood— The  skillful  fencer—The 
dark  man,  a  symbol  for  death 107 

VI  Dream  masks,  Cont. — Transposition  from  below, 
upwards,  and  from  the  front,  backwards — Scorn 
under  the  mask  of  gentility — A  dream  which 
must  be  interpreted  in  reverse  sense — The  second 
symbolic  equation — The  symbolization  of  scorn- 
ful love— Why  the  child  calls  "Papa!"— A  bio- 
graphic dream 139 

9 


10  Contents 

CHAPTER  FAGS 

VII    Dream     masks — Displacement     and     fusion — The 

brave  servant — Criminal  (asocial)  instincts     .     .     161 

VIII  The  splitting  of  personality  in  the  dream — The 
dream  of  a  judge :  villa  and  prison — The  museum 
dream 175 

IX  Transformations  and  bisexuality — The  meaning  of 
five  fingers — An  old  dream  in  a  new  light — Bi- 
sexual symbols — All  dreams  are  bisexual — How 
the  dreamer  seeks  the  male  in  the  woman  .  .  187 

X  Symbolism  of  left  and  right  in  dreams — The  cousin 
as  substitute  for  incest — The  father  must  leave 
— Symbolism  of  the  spiral — Dream  about  diplo- 
matic behavior 213 

XI  The  dreams  of  a  doubter — The  dream  about 
sweets — The  dream  about  stolen  books — The  sec- 
ond version 237 

XII    The  symbolism  of  life  and  death  in  the  dream — 
The  long  sharp   sword   in   the   dream — Masturba- 
tion represented  by  pocket — The  matricide  idea 
— Blood  for  spermatic  fluid 251 

XIII  Speech  in  dreams — The  symbolism  of  conversation 

— Color  symbolism  of  Mr.  S 271 

XIV  Representation  of  the  emotions  in  the  dream — The 

dream  of  "getting  ready" — A  clergyman's  dream 
— The  root  of  foot  fetichism — Triumph  over  the 
father — Dream  thoughts  and  compulsive  images 
— Infantile  roots  of  the  fear  of  contact — Why  the 
dreamer  "wonders" 281 

Index  of  Subjects 315 

Index  of  Names 318 

Index  of   Symbols 319 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 

Every  mental  activity  is  dominated  by  the  law 
of  "bipolarity" :  to  every  instinct  there  corresponds 
a  counter-instinct;  to  every  virtue,  a  vice;  to  every 
manifestation  of  strength,  some  weakness.  One  can 
never  understand  the  nature  of  man  so  long  as  one 
fails  to  take  into  consideration  this  fact. 

My  work  treats  of  the  secrets  of  the  human  soul. 
It  would  be  unfair  to  appraise  humanity  on  the 
basis  of  the  results  of  these  investigations.  For  this 
work  deals  specifically  with  the  evil  in  human  na- 
ture, and  only  with  the  evil.  But  we  must  not  for- 
get that  there  is  also  another  side. 

Perhaps  I  can  make  myself  clear  best  through 
an  example:  A  stranger  comes  into  some  town 
unfamiliar  to  him;  he  looks  over  very  thoroughly 
and  with  great  enthusiasm  its  monuments  of  art;  he 
is  charmed  by  the  beautiful  sights  which  culture  has 
provided.  He  then  departs  believing  he  has  become 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  town.  Another 
traveller  says  to  himself, — after  having  gone 
through  the  program  suggested  by  the  usual  travel- 
ler's guide :  Now  I  want  to  look  into  the  reverse  side 

11 


12  Author's  Preface 

of  the  life  of  this  place!  He  knows  that  the  pom- 
pous formal  life  has  its  seamy  side,  and  he  discovers 
once  more  that  only  he  is  able  truly  to  appraise  the 
light  side  of  the  picture  who  has  familiarized  him- 
self also  with  its  shadows. 

My  investigations  are  concerned  with  the  founda- 
tions of  the  human  soul.  They  are  not  intended  for 
inexperienced  lay  persons  whose  minds  may  be  con- 
fused rather  than  enlightened  by  these  investiga- 
tions. Physicians,  jurists,  mental  hygienists,  edu- 
cators and  psychologists  will  undoubtedly  find 
herein  a  certain  amount  of  inspiration  and  their 
mental  horizon  will  be  enlarged.  It  is  high  time 
that  we  devote  greater  attention  to  the  facts  of  our 
dream  life.  This  field  opens  to  us  the  opportunity 
of  acquiring  insight  into  the  very  depths  of  the 
human  soul  and  thus  enables  us,  for  the  first  time, 
to  penetrate  the  true  character  of  human  nature. 

In  the  conception  of  this  book,  the  result  of  many 
years  of  diligent  labour,  I  have  been  guided  pri- 
marily by  practical  requirements.  The  theoretical 
aspects  and  the  past  literature  concerning  dreams 
have  been  covered  so  well  by  Freud  that  I  must  re- 
fer all  those  interested  to  that  author's  fundamental 
and  highly  instructive  work. 

My  work  should  not  be  merely  read, — it  must  be 
tested  out.  I  welcome  every  criticism  so  long  as  it 
is  not  dictated  by  blind  prejudice,  for  the  person 


Author's  Preface  13 

unfamiliar  with  the  problem  of  dream  interpreta- 
tion will  be  inclined  to  look  upon  some  of  the  state- 
ments in  the  book  as  somewhat  forced  and  perhaps 
artificial. 

This  was  my  own  experience,  when  I  first  began 
to  devote  myself  to  the  subject  of  dreams.  Con- 
viction cannot  arise  through  reading  alone;  it  fol- 
lows only  after  personally  testing  out  the  prin- 
ciples. 

I  may  point  out,  additionally,  one  fact :  the  inter- 
pretation of  dreams  is  a  science  in  the  process  of 
formation.  Everything  about  it  is  in  a  state  of  flux, 
everything  is  in  the  process  of  becoming  formulated. 
This  book  is  but  a  rung  in  the  ladder.  Who  can 
at  this  time  measure  the  majestic  heights  even- 
tually to  be  attained  by  the  structure  to  which  the 
present  work  is  but  a  stepping  stone? 

STEKEL. 


THE      MEANING      OP      THE      SYMBOLISM WHAT      IS      A 

SYMBOL? THE  DREAM  ABOUT  THE  SLAIN  WOMAN 

LOVESICK  HUMANITY DREAM  OF  THE  JEALOUS 

FATHER DREAM   AND  MYTH 


Wahrlich,  wdren  die  Menschen  sinniger,  die  feinen 
Winken  der  Natur  zu  beobachten  und  zu  deuten, 
dieses  Traumleben  miisste  sie  aufmerksam  machen. 
Sie  mils  st  en  finden,  dass  von  dem  gross  en  Rats  el, 
nach  dessen  Losung  sie  durst  en,  die  Natur  uns  hier 
schon  die  erste  Sible  eingeflustert  hat. 

[Truly,  if  men  were  more  sensitive  to  observe  and 
interpret  nature's  delicate  hints,  they  would  be 
roused  by  their  dream  life.  They  would  find  that 
here  nature  has  already  disclosed  the  first  hint  of 
the  great  riddle  which  man  is  so  thirsty  to  solve.] 

Kiirnburger 


SEX  AND  DREAMS 


The  art  of  dream  interpretation  is  a  most  an- 
cient one.  Some  of  the  oldest  documents  relate  to 
dream  interpretations.  The  dream  was  considered 
an  intermediary  between  the  higher  forces  of  nature 
and  mankind.  Usually  it  was  the  voice  of  divinity 
that  was  speaking  through  the  medium  of  dreams. 
But  demons  and  evil  powers,  too,  were  capable  of 
coming  into  contact  with  man  through  the  dream 
life.  That  was  a  period  which  we,  belonging  to  a 
sophisticated  age,  can  hardly  visualize.  "The  lights 
and  shadows  and  the  coloring,  at  any  rate,  have 
changed,"  says  Nietzsche.  "We  no  longer  under- 
stand precisely  how  ancient  mankind  felt  about  the 
most  ordinary  and  common  facts  of  life — about  day- 
light and  about  waking  up;  for  instance:  because 
the  ancients  believed  m  dreams,  their  wdki/ng  life 
had  another  coloring.9' 

Contrary  to  the  learned  men,  the  simple  folk  have 
never  looked  upon  dreams  as  "foam."  Within  their 
soul  there  persisted  a  belief  in  the  reality  of  this 

15 


16  Sex  and  Dreams 

psychic  experience.  But  the  belief  rested  stub- 
bornly on  what  might  be  termed  the  "historic" 
background:  the  people  wanted  to  interpret  the 
future  through  the  dream.  The  dream  was  looked 
upon  as  the  infallible  prophet.  Whoever  could  in- 
terpret dreams  possessed  the  gift  to  solve  the  rid- 
dle of  the  future.  A  derivation  of  this  belief  is  the 
application  of  the  dream  to  mercenary  ends.  The 
transposition  of  the  dream  pictures  into  figures  is 
diligently  practiced  to  this  day  and  plays  a  great 
role  among  the  people.1  The  "cultured"  classes  re- 
gard it  as  their  duty  superiority  to  smile  at  such 
practices.  They  look  upon  the  dream  as  a  mean- 
ingless play  of  the  phantasy  uncontrolled  by  con- 
sciousness. Even  so,  ordinary  reflection  should  have 
suggested  the  thought  that  here  was  raw  material  of 
great  psychic  value,  though  in  a  distorted  form.  We 
ought  to  see  what  we  can  make  out  of  it.  Here  and 
there  an  investigator  occasionally  tried  to  pene- 
trate the  riddle  of  dreams.  But  these  promising 
beginnings  only  led  to  far-fetched  theories.  2 

1 1  want  to  take  this  opportunity  to  state  that  I  have  not 
disdained  to  look  over  the  various  Egyptian  and  Persian  dream 
books.  I  wanted  to  find  out  whether  our  knowledge  derived 
through  the  modern  analysis  of  dreams  is  in  any  way  corrob- 
orated in  the  old  writings.  That  is  but  rarely  the  case.  The 
dream  books,  so-called,  which  circulate  among  the  people,  im- 
press me  as  being  deliberate  artefacts.  The  transposition  of 
dream  pictures  into  numbers  is  clearly  traceable  to  the  lottery 
game  which  is  only  a  few  centuries  old. 

1  The  extensive  literature  on  dreams  has  been  adequately  con- 
sidered by  Freud  to  whose  work  the  interested  reader  is 
referred. 


Meaning  of  Dreams  17 

Anatole  France  is  justified  when  he  states :  "I  am 
firmly  convinced  that  the  power  of  dreams  is  greater 
than  that  of  reality."  The  dream  is  the  bridge  be- 
tween the  real  and  the  supersensory  world.  The  an- 
cient peoples  knew  this  better  than  we.  They  be- 
lieved in  dreams  and  through  the  dream  they  felt 
themselves  nearer  their  divinity. 

Divinity  is  the  projection  of  our  ideal  into  in- 
finity. What  we  demand  of  our  ideal  self  appears 
to  us  as  God's  command.  All  appearances  of  self 
are  continually  referred  to  an  ideal  that  stands  su- 
preme. Hence  the  first  conception  about  the  origins 
of  dreams, — that  the  dream  is  a  gift  sent  down  by 
the  gods.  The  divine  voice  commands  and  warns,  it 
annunciates  and  praises  through  the  dream.  The 
dream  interpreter  of  former  ages  claimed  the  gift 
of  understanding  that  secret  language  and  to  be  able 
thereby  to  foretell  the  future. 

But  not  only  is  the  ideal  self  projected  into  in- 
finity. The  evil  self  is  also  refracted  outwardly  and 
it  reflects  back  as  temptation  or  as  the  influence  of 
demonic  powers.  The  naive  conception  of  the  mid- 
dle ages  was  that  the  dream  represents  a  struggle 
between  heaven  and  hell,  a  contest  between  God  and 
Satan.  That  combat  has  always  fascinated  man's 
fancy.  From  Job  and  Jesus  down  to  Faust  and 
Parsifal, — what  a  wealth  of  poetic  creations ! 

It  is  the  eternal  warfare  between  instinct  and  re- 
pression, between  man,  in  his  primordial  character, 


18  Sex  and  Dreams 

and  himself,  under  the  tinsel  of  culture,  which  breaks 
forth  in  this  wonderful  symbolic  picture.  Our  cul- 
ture requires  the  continual  repression  of  our  crav- 
ings. The  higher  man  ascends  upon  the  cultural 
scale  the  stricter  are  the  laws  which  impose  the 
ethical  strictures  of  the  society  in  which  he  finds 
himself.  Culture  means  smooth-working  inhibition. 
The  greater  the  social  freedom,  i.e.,  the  stronger  the 
social  rights  of  the  individual,  the  smaller  becomes 
the  span  of  his  individual  freedom ;  the  stricter  also 
the  limitations  which  the  individual  must  impose 
upon  himself  for  the  benefit  of  all.  Social  progress 
is  based  on  the  annihilation  of  individualism. 

The  dream  represents  an  indulgence  in  fancies 
without  the  intervention  of  consciousness  or  under  a 
limited  control  by  the  latter.  The  dream  is  a  hal- 
lucination. Consciousness  is  the  bearer  of  inhibi- 
tions. The  ethical  self  first  assumes  control  of  con- 
sciousness and  then  it  attempts  to  penetrate  into 
the  depths  of  the  unconscious.  Hence  the  cleft 
which  arises  between  the  pictures  of  the  waking  self 
and  the  hallucinations  of  the  dream.  Conscience  is 
the  sum  of  all  inhibitions  of  a  religious  and  ethical 
character.  The  term  conscience  in  itself  shows  that 
it  pertains  to  a  knowledge  of  good  and  evil.  The 
primitive  man  has  so  such  knowledge.  He  is  famil- 
iar only  with  the  promptings  of  his  cravings;  with 
unpleasure,  which  arises  out  of  the  non-fulfillment  of 
wishes  and  with  the  pleasure  which  accompanies  and 


The  Wish-Fulfillment  Theory  19 

follows  their  gratification.  The  primordial  man  in 
us  lives  again  in  the  dream. 

But  the  tremendous  gap  which  exists  between  the 
requisites  of  our  cultural  and  those  of  our  elemental 
self  leads  eventually  to  a  strange  state  of  affairs. 
The  cultural  self  knows  not,  or  assumes  not  to  know, 
the  primordial  self.  It  fails  to  recognize  the  lan- 
guage of  the  dream  and  thus  carries  out  more  com- 
pletely its  attitude  of  "innocent"  ignorance.  For 
that  reason,  too,  the  dream  portrays  its  images  in  a 
secret  symbolic  language.  Its  language  is  the  lan- 
guage of  the  primordial  man.  For  man's  aborigi- 
nal ancestor  also  expressed  himself  in  symbolic 
form.  The  earliest  written  documents  are  symbolic 
writings.  A  sword  signifies  fight,  a  tree  nature, 
lightning  divinity,  etc.  The  art  of  dream  interpre- 
tation consists  of  transposing  this  symbolic  lan- 
guage into  everyday  .terms. 

What  is  the  function  of  the  dream?  We  pass 
over  the  old  conception  according  to  which  the 
dream  was  merely  a  senseless  play  of  mental  ele- 
ments ;  we  disregard  likewise  the  ancient  hypotheses 
which  were  based  on  the  premise  of  an  intervention 
of  evil  powers.  We  turn  directly  to  the  theory  of 
Freud,  who  regards  the  dream  as  a  wish  fulfillment. 

"Our  relations  to  the  world,"  states  Freud  in  his 
latest  writing  on  dreams,1  "is  from  the  outset  such 

*Vorlesungen  uber  Psychoanalyse  (Wien,  1920). 


20  Sex  and  Dreams 

that  we  cannot  endure  it  without  a  break.  There- 
fore we  withdraw  from  time  to  time  into  the  prim- 
ordial state, — that  state  which  is  characteristic  of 
our  intra-uterine  existence.  At  least  we  create  for 
ourselves  an  environment  very  close  to  it:  warmth, 
darkness,  and  absence  of  stimuli.  Some  of  us  curl 
up  and  actually  assume  during  sleep  a  position 
very  close  to  that  which  is  characteristic  of  the  in- 
fant when  resting  within  the  mother-body.  It  looks 
as  if  the  world  does  not  possess  us  wholly  as  adults, 
it  can  lay  claim  only  to  two  thirds  of  us:  for  one 
third  of  our  existence  we  are  as  if  we  were  yet  un- 
born. Every  rising  in  the  morning  is  thus  like  a  new 
birth." 

Hebbel  has  expressed  the  same  thought  more 
fittingly  without  recourse  to  the  dubious  notion 
of  a  sinking  back  into  the  intra-uterine  state: 
"Sleep  is  a  sinking  into  one's  self."  I  have  ex- 
pressed the  same  idea  in  my  monograph,  The  Will  to 
Sleep,  as  follows:  "Sleep  means  reexperiencing  one's 
past,  forgetting  one's  present,  and  pre-feeling  one's 
future." 

This  one  example  from  Freud's  latest  work  is 
enough  to  show  the  one-sided  character  of  his  con- 
ception of  dreams.  The  dream  is  and  remains  for 
him  a  wish  fulfillment.  Into  this  procrustean  bed 
of  wish  he  wedges  in  every  dream.  Thus  he  neg- 
lects altogether  the  telepathic  dreams  which  do  not 
happen  to  fit  in  with  his  theory.  He  does  not  be- 
lieve in  telepathic  dreams.  But  he  brushes  aside  also 


The  Wish-Fulfilment  Theory  21 

all  other  dreams,  which  we  must  recognize  as  denot- 
ing warning  or  anxiety  as  well  as  the  dreams  which 
we  may  call  "instructive."  Anxiety  is  always  for  him 
the  sign  of  a  repressed  wish.  But  knowing  that  the 
dream  portrays  the  eternal  warfare  between  craving 
and  inhibition,  the  struggle  of  man  with  himself 
under  his  dual  aspect  as  the  heir  of  primordial  in- 
stincts and  as  the  representative  of  culture,  we  must 
look  upon  the  dream  as  a  picture  of  both  sides  of 
the  combat,  a  dramatization  in  which  the  cravings 
as  well  as  the  inhibitions  find  pictorial  representa- 
tion, and  in  which  even  foreign  thoughts  may  crop 
out  through  telepathic  means.  If  one  sees  only  the 
cravings,  one  may  be  easily  led  to  the  erroneous  con- 
ception which  I  myself  have  held  for  a  time,  that 
the  dream  is  merely  a  wish  fulfillment.  For  back  of 
every  wish  there  always  stands  some  craving:  the 
sexual  instinct,  the  nutritional  instinct,  the  craving 
for  power,  for  self-aggrandizement,  etc.  But  if  we 
investigate  the  inhibitions  we  find  back  of  them  also 
the  influences  of  culture:  warnings,  preparation  for 
the  future,  foreshawdoings,  religiosity  and  moral 
restrictions  of  every  kind. 

Perhaps  my  conception  will  be  more  clear  if  I  con- 
trast it  with  Freud's  in  connection  with  a  concrete 
illustration.  In  the  work  mentioned  above  Freud 
relates  a  peculiar  dream  and  adds  his  interpreta- 
tion. He  states: 


22  Sex  and  Dreams 

"One  of  my  patients  had  lost  her  father  during 
the  treatment.  Since  then  she  takes  every  oppor- 
tunity to  find  him  again  in  her  dreams.  In  one 
of  her  dreams  the  father  appears  in  a  certain 
connection  .  .  .  and  says:  'It  is  a  quarter  past 
eleven,  half  past  eleven,  it  is  a  quarter  of  twelve.' 
Towards  the  solution  of  this  strange  dream  feature 
the  patient  recalls  merely  that  the  father  always 
wanted  to  see  the  children  gather  for  their  meals  on 
time.  That  undoubtedly  had  something  to  do  with 
the  dream  element  in  question  but  this  association 
yields  no  light  on  its  meaning.  On  account  of  cer- 
tain considerations  which  arose  in  the  course  of  the 
treatment  the  suspicion  seemed  justified  at  the  time 
that  a  carefully  repressed,  critical  revulsion  against 
the  beloved  and  honored  father  had  its  share  in  this 
dream.  Continuing  further  her  associations,  ap- 
parently in  a  direction  remote  from  the  dream 
proper,  the  subject  relates  that  she  had  listened  the 
day  before  to  a  lengthy  psychologic  discussion  when 
a  relative  said :  'The  primordial  man  lives  in  each  of 
us !'  We  now  think  we  understand  her.  That  gave 
her  an  excellent  chance  to  conjure  into  life  once 
more  her  deceased  father.  She  made  him  in  the 
dream  the  primordial  man,  by  having  him  call  out 
the  quarter  hours  for  the  noon  meal.  (Urmensch- 
Uhrmensch,  a  play  on  words!)" 

Any  one  finding  this  play  of  words  between  Uhr- 
mensch,  clock  man,  and  Urmensch,  primordial  man, 
rather  forced,  will  be  informed  by  the  genial  master 
that  the  dream  is  capable  of  punning  and  wit.  The 
dreamer  wishes  to  see  her  father,  and  the  obliging 


The  WisJir-Fulfttment  Theory  23 

dream  fulfills  her  wish.  Therefore,  a  typical  clear 
wish  fulfillment, — according  to  Freud.  I  would  have 
conceived  this  dream  as  a  warning.  The  death  of 
her  father  had  strongly  influenced  the  patient  and 
caused  her  thoughts  to  shift  from  worldly  to  super- 
mundane themes.  She  is  interested  in  the  question 
of  life  after  death.  This  earthly  life  must  be  but  a 
preparation  for  the  life  eternal.  It  is  as  if  the  father 
cried  out  to  her:  "Life  is  short!  Use  your  days 
well!  Soon  twelve  bells  will  strike  (the  ghost  hour). 
Soon  your  day  will  be  over!" 

The  flight  of  time  is  very  ingeniously  indicated 
by  the  progressive  admonition:  "a  quarter  past 
eleven,  half  past  eleven,  a  quarter  of  twelve."  Since 
the  neurosis  expresses  the  struggle  between  craving 
and  repression  under  the  form  of  an  ailment,  we  may 
appreciate  the  patient's  trouble.  A  power  draws 
her  towards  indulgence  and  enjoyment  and  another 
pulls  her  in  the  direction  of  renunciation  and  self- 
control.  The  father  appears  as  the  representative 
of  authority  (also  of  the  divine)  and  admonishes 
her:  "Renounce  all  earthly  joys  and  prepare  thy- 
self for  God's  judgment,  for  the  life  eternal.  The 
day  of  judgment  is  near." 

But  is  this  dream  a  wish  fulfillment?  If  the 
father  appeared  in  response  to  her  wish,  conjured 
up  (hallucinatorily)  by  her  yearning  to  see  him 
again,  would  he  have  found  no  other  words,  no 
kindlier  attitude,  with  which  to  approach  his  child? 


24  Sex  and  Dreams 

I  see  in  this  dream  merely  the  power  of  conscience. 
I  sense  the  torturing  anxiety,  I  note  the  racking  re- 
gret over  a  life  misspent  or  lost,  I  hear  an  anguish- 
ing outcry  which  fills  me  with  compassion. 

This  dream  is  a  warning  and  it  foreshadows  at  the 
same  time  the  subject's  future.  She  will  continue 
to  wander  on  the  path  of  asceticism  and  self-denial. 
Letters  of  flame  proclaim  in  the  subject's  dream 
the  approach  of  that  end  which  overtakes  every  one. 

And, — what  about  the  character  of  the  dream? 
It  is  wish  or  a  warning,  according  to  the  power 
(craving  or  inhibition)  which  pervades  it.  The 
dream  seeks  solutions  for  unsolvable  problems.  It 
is  an  apposition  of  past  and  present  and  a  fore- 
shadowing of  the  future.  Its  realm  is  inexhaustible 
and  it  is  not  to  be  encased  within  the  narrow  limits 
of  a  formula.  The  dream  is  in  fact  as  inexhaustible 
as  the  riddle  of  man  and  yet  as  transparent  as  man, 
provided  one  does  not  start  out  with  any  precon- 
ceived notions.  Are  the  thoughts  of  a  person  in 
the  waking  state  reducible  to  a  single  formula?  Do 
we  think  merely  in  terms  of  wish  fulfillment?  This 
question  is  rendered  superfluous  when  we  take  into 
consideration  the  factor  of  conscience  alone.  The 
dream  is  the  stream  of  our  mental  life  as  it  flows 
out  of  the  unexplored  depths  through  the  filter  of 
conscience  and  up  to  the  level  of  awareness. 

Every  falling  asleep  is  a  dying  for  the  day.  Every 
waking  up  is  a  rebirth.  The  thought  of  death  re- 


Death  m  Dreams  25 

veals  itself  in  curious  pictures  in  the  dreams. 
Though  we  forget  the  fact  of  death  during  the  day, 
and  though  the  bustle  of  daily  existence  may  stifle 
the  voice  of  conscience,  the  dream  brings  back  to 
our  mind  the  eternal  "memento  mori !"  Each  one  of 
us  hears  the  admonishing  voice:  "It  is  a  quarter  of 
twelve!"  And  we  hear  it  in  the  midst  of  our  en- 
tangling wishes, — we  hear  the  swan  song  in  the 
midst  of  all  the  frivolous  cravings.  And  thus  we 
die  many  times,  and  we  pass  again  and  again  through 
the  last  accounting, — thus  we  look  over  our  past 
critically,  appraisingly,  amidst  fears  and  regrets. 
Every  night  provides  a  cleansing  purgatory  for  our 
world  of  thoughts.  Within  ;us  lies  heaven  and 
earth, — within  us  judge  and  defendant  alike.  It  is 
as  if  the  ideal  which  we  have  shifted  to  infinity  at 
night  finds  the  path  back  to  us  again,  as  if  we  are 
trying  every  night  to  overcome  once  more  the  de- 
mons which  incite  us  from  one  indulgence  to  an- 
other and  which  fill  our  childish  heart  with  envy 
and  with  feelings  of  revenge,  with  treacherous  self- 
seeking  and  forbidden  cravings.  And  every  dream 
dramatizes  plastically  this  bitter  combat,  every 
dream  is  a  proof  that  humanity  strives  to  grow  out 
of  itself  and  up  towards  unsuspected  heights.  In 
Grillparzer's  *  wonderful  drama,  Traum  ein  Leben, 

*Vid.  Analysis  of  this  drama  in  my:  Poetry  and  Neurosis, 
Contributions  to  the  Psychology  of  the  Artist  and  of  Creative 
Activity.  English  version  by  Dr.  James  S.  Van  Teslaar. 


26  Sex  and  Dreams 

we  find  a  wonderful  expression  of  this  function  of 
the  dream  as  a  warning,  as  a  picture  of  the  struggle 
between  craving  and  inhibition.  The  artist  has 
furnished  us  in  this  poetic  drama  the  key  to  the  un- 
derstanding of  dreams. 

But  we  must  be  grateful  to  Freud  for  having 
shown  us  the  path  leading  into  the  realm  of  dreams 
and  for  having  been  the  first  to  penetrate  with  the 
pioneer's  keen  eye  the  veil  which  has  kept  the  dream 
a  secret.  To-day  the  interpretation  of  dreams  has 
become  an  indispensable  aid  in  the  practice  of  psy- 
chotherapy. Any  one  intending  to  be  helpful  as  a 
psychotherapeutist  must  familiarize  himself  with 
the  art  of  dream  interpretation. 

It  is  not  an  easy  art  to  acquire.  It  requires  spe- 
cial training  and  a  great  deal  of  patience.  It  in- 
volves careful  testing  for  one's  self  of  the  results 
thus  far  gained  until  one  acquires  the  requisite 
knowledge  and  conviction  through  personal  observa- 
tion and  experience. 

The  proper  schooling  for  the  interpretation  of 
dreams  involves  an  appropriate  new  conception  of 
language,  the  keen  tracing  of  double  meanings  and 
familiarity  with  symbolisms  and  with  the  processes 
of  dream  distortion. 

The  role  of  symbolism  in  human  life  is  not  yet 
sufficiently  appreciated.  "All  art  is  symbolism," 
states  Feuchtersleben.  "The  most  important  task  of 
my  career,"  states  Hebbel,  speaking  as  an  artist, 


Symbolism  27 

"I  regard  the  symbolization  of  my  inner  life.'*  Sym- 
bolism pervades  all  our  existence.  Language,  cus- 
toms, beliefs  and  thoughts  are  more  or  less  cryptic 
symbolisms. 

Without  knowledge  of  symbolism  the  interpreta- 
tion of  dreams  is  an  impossible  task. 

The  proper  training  for  dream  interpretation 
consists  of  learning  to  read  aright  its  language,  of 
tracing  the  double  meanings  and  of  becoming  famil- 
iar with  the  symbolisms  and  processes  of  dream 
distortion. 

The  significance  of  symbolism  in  human  life  is 
still  but  insufficiently  recognized.  "All  art  is  but 
symbolism,"  states  Feuchtersleben.  "The  most  im- 
portant task  of  my  life,"  declares  Hebbel,  "I  re- 
gard the  symbolization  of  my  inner  life."  Symbolism 
pervades  all  our  life.  Language,  customs,  peculiari- 
ties, thought, — all  are  more  or  less  hidden  symbol- 
isms. To  Rudolf  Kleinpaul  belongs  the  credit  of 
having  shown  up  the  tremendous  significance  of  sym- 
bolism, through  his  various  works,  particularly,  his 
Sprache  ohne  Worte  (Language  without  Words) 
and  his  more  elaborate  work  entitled,  Das  Leben  der 
Sprache  (Leipzig,  Wm.  Friedrich,  1888). 

What  is  truly  a  symbol? 
Riklin  states : 3 

*  Schrift en  zur  angewandten  Seclenkunde,  II  Franz  Deutike 
(Wien  u.  Leipzig,  1909). 


28  Sex  cmd  Dreams 

"A  symbol  is  a  sign,  an  abbreviation  for  some- 
thing more  elaborate.  When  I  look  over  a  railroad 
time  table  and  find  a  'postal  sign*  in  the  form  of 
the  familiar  horn  mark,  against  the  name  of  a  sta- 
tion, it  enables  me  to  know  that  the  station  has 
postal  connections  with  places  not  on  that  line. 

"But  the  symbol  stands  for  more  than  that.  Why 
does  not  some  other  sign  stand  for  postal  connec- 
tions in  the  railroad  time  guide?  The  postal  horn 
is  something  that  originally  belonged  to  the  postal 
service.  Although  no  longer  an  essential  part  of 
that  service  it  was  formerly  one  of  its  most  con- 
spicuous signs,  impressive  both  to  the  eye  and  to 
the  ear.  Thus  we  find  here  two  additional  features 
which  belong  to  the  symbol.  The  sign  chosen  for 
a  symbol  stands  in  associative  inner,  as  well  as 
outer,  relationship  to  the  thing  it  signifies  and  is 
meaningful.  It  is  particularly  fitting  as  a  symbol 
on  account  of  its  history  and  development  in  con- 
nection with  the  thing  it  signifies,  although  its  im- 
portance in  that  connection  is  not  without  its  fluc- 
tuations. At  the  present  time  we  no  longer  have  the 
long-distance  drivers  lustily  blowing  their  horn.  But 
the  horn  persists  as  a  sign  in  the  railroad  time 
guides,  in  military  service  denoting  the  field  postal 
station,  and  in  various  other  connections. 

"Usually  the  concept  symbol  embodies  also 
something  mystical  (or  mysterious).  Symbols  are 
frequently  used  as  signs  of  recognition  among  mem- 
bers of  secret  organizations,  as  for  instance,  the 
signs  among  the  Freemasons.  The  'mysterious'  fea- 
ture consists  of  the  fact  that  only  the  initiated  is 
familiar  with  the  meaning  of  the  sign.  That  was 
the  case,  for  instance,  with  the  Runic  Characters, 


Symbolism  29 

which  only  certain  persons  could  read;  that,  too,  is 
what  lends  churchly  ceremonials  their  power  of  im- 
pressing the  human  sensitive  mind.  Developmental 
history  and  the  changes  in  meaning  incidental 
thereto  are  enough  to  obscure  the  true  meaning  of 
the  symbol  to  all  but  the  initiated. 

"Because  the  symbol  is  only  a  sign,  only  a  part  of 
the  original  thing  which  it  stands  for,  in  the  course 
of  its  developmental  history  it  may  gradually  as- 
sume varied  significance  and  stand  for  a  number  of 
things:  the  postal  horn  may  be  variously  taken,  in 
a  psychologic  sense,  and  may  mean  any  one  of  a 
number  of  things  according  to  the  locality,  or  cir- 
cumstances :  it  may  mean  'junction'  when  placed 
against  the  station  name  in  a  railroad  time  guide, 
or  'postal  connection*  when  found  in  a  circular.  In 
a  distant  mountain  village  it  means  one  thing,  on 
a  uniform  sleeve  it  stands  for  something  else. 

"This  indication  of  possible  meanings  shows  that 
the  sign  or  symbol  stands  for  a  summation  or  fu- 
sion of  all  the  possible  associations.  It  is  character- 
istic of  the  dream  symbol,  for  instance,  that  it  takes 
in  thousands  of  association  paths.  This  leads  to 
many-sidedness  and  the  'shadowy  sense*  of  the  sym- 
bol lends  itself,  for  that  reason,  to  a  number  of 
plausible  interpretations.  Any  one  who  is  not  ex- 
perienced and  does  not  know  the  symbol  in  all  its 
possible  applications,  may  interpret  it  falsely  or 
only  in  a  sense  with  which  he  happens  to  be  famil- 
iar. The  Bible,  for  instance,  has  the  advantage — 
and  disadvantage  at  the  same  time, — of  containing 
numerous  symbols  which  may  be  interpreted  in  any 
one  of  various  ways."  (Wunscherfilttung  wnd  Sym- 
bolik  im  Marchen.) 


30  Sex  and  Dreams 

Without  a  knowledge  of  symbolism  the  interpre- 
tation of  dreams  is  impossible.  The  great  fault  of 
modern  dream  interpreters  was  precisely  the  fact 
that  they  knew  nothing  about  symbolism.  The  an- 
cients were  further  advanced  in  that  respect.  How 
impressive  is  the  symbolism  of  dreams  set  forth  in 
the  Bible !  And  how  completely  rounded  out  appears 
the  symbolism  of  Artemidoros  of  Daldis,  whose  book 
entitled  The  Symbolism  of  Dreams  is  worthy  of 
the  modern  psychoanalyses  attention.4 

Before  beginning  to  describe  the  art  of  dream 
interpretation  proper  let  us  turn  our  attention 
briefly  to  the  Bible  dreams  and  to  the  Greek  art  of 
interpretation.  I  know  no  more  fitting  examples 
for  introducing  the  subject  of  dream  symbolism. 

The  best  known  is  the  dream  interpretation  of 
Joseph,  found  in  the  first  book  of  Moses.  Joseph 
owed  his  high  position  entirely  to  his  extraordinary 
ability  to  interpret  properly  his  master's  dreams. 
The  first  dream  which  he  told  his  brothers,  was: 

(1)  We  tied  sheafs  on  the  field  and  my  sheaf  stood 
upright;  and  your  sheafs  bowed  before  my  sheaf. 

The  brothers  at  once  interpreted  the  dream  to 
mean  that  Joseph  will  surpass  them:  "Shalt  thou 
be  our  king  and  rule  over  us?"  Even  we  children 
of  this  age  could  not  interpret  the  dream  otherwise. 

4  There  is  an  excellent  German  translation  of  this  work  by 
Friedr.  8.  Krauss  (Hartleben,  Vienna,  1881).  Unfortunately, 
the  most  significant  portion,  The  Symbolism  of  the  Sexual 
Processes,  has  been  omitted. 


Symbolism  31 

Only  we  are  able  to  conclude  from  it  that  it  is 
the  dream  of  an  ambitious  person.  And  since  am- 
bition carries  one  far,  especially  when  one  is  en- 
dowed with  the  necessary  wisdom  and  with  indefati- 
gable energy,  we  are  justified  to  surmise  favorable 
augury  regarding  the  future  of  any  one  whose  youth 
is  filled  with  such  dreams.5 

The  second  of  Joseph's  dreams  also  denotes  sim- 
ilar ambition: 

(2)  I  thought  the  sun  and  the  moon  and  the  eleven 
stars  bowed  before  me. 

This  dream  led  to  his  supposed  perdition  and 
was  the  beginning  of  his  miraculous  good  luck. 
Equally  remarkable  are  Joseph's  further  interpre- 
tations of  dreams: 

(3)  The  seven  ugly  starved  cows,  which  eat  up 
the  seven  fat  cows 

he  genially  interpreted  as  seven  years  of  famine 
which  were  to  follow  seven  years  of  abundance. 

These  interpretations  exhibit  a  remarkable  grasp 
of  dream  symbolism. 

The  art  of  dream  interpretation  was  similarly 
developed  among  the  Greeks,  and  I  quote  two  ex- 
amples from  Artemidoros  (loc.  cit.,  p.  236) : 

(4)  Some  one  dreamed  of  being  tied  with  a  chain 

•In  modern  dreams  "ambition"  is  symbolized  by  modern 
means:  the  ambitious  person  flies  high  above  the  heads  of  all 
others  in  a  balloon,  aeroplane,  or  according  to  the  good  old 
fashion,  as  an  angel.  Sometimes  the  flight  through  air  is  car- 
ried on  without  wings,  merely  by  swaying  the  limbs  or  the 
body. 


32  Sex  a/nd  Dreams 

to  the  post  of  Poseidon.  He  became  a  priest  of 
Poseidon ;  for  in  that  position  he  could  not  get  away 
from  the  holy  place. 

This  glimpse  into  the  future  is  as  clever  as  the 
next  prophecy  of  Artemidoros  which  I  shall  pres- 
ently relate.  No  one  becomes  a  priest  who  did  not 
first  wish  it,  unless  he  were  coerced.  .  .  . 

The  second  dream  from  the  work  of  Artemidoros 
shows  a  symbolism  to  which  we  will  have  occasion 
frequently  to  revert.  In  that  dream  picture  the 
sexual  is  represented  as  flesh:  the  sensuous  in  man, 
through  the  flesh  of  an  animal. 

(5)  Some  one  dreamed  of  seducing  and  sacrificing 
his  own  wife,  of  bartering  with  and  offering  her  flesh 
for  sale,  and  that  he  earned  a  great  sum  thereby. 
Thereupon  he  dreamed  that  he  was  very  joyful  over 
it  and  he  attempted  to  hide  the  money  lie  had  gained, 
on  account  of  the  jealousy  of  those  around. 

"That  man  eventually  sold  his  own  wife  and  made 
money  out  of  the  shameful  deed.  That  source  of 
income  proved  very  profitable  but  he  found  it  neces- 
sary to  keep  the  matter  from  any  one's  knowledge." 

In  the  case  of  that  man,  too,  wish  was  father  to 
the  thought, — and  that,  long  before  the  deed.  He 
first  dreamed  what  he  lacked  the  courage  of  carry- 
ing out.  As  he  could  look  upon  the  dream  as  an 
order  from  the  Gods,  that  dream  led  to  a  course  of 
action  which  he  might  have  adopted  even  in  the  ab- 
sence of  the  dream.  Possibly  only  in  a  short  time. 


Impatience  33 

The  dream  is  a  dream  of  impatience.  The  dreamer 
can  hardly  wait  to  sell  his  wife  and  acquire  the 
gain. 

From  the  art  of  dream  interpretation  of  the  East 
one  might  also  draw  some  excellent  examples.  I 
limit  myself  to  one  account  of  a  jest  of  Buadem  (lit- 
erally "that  man"),  a  name  which,  according  to  Dr. 
Miillendorf,  is  only  a  pseudonym  devised  by  Mehemed 
Tewfik,  the  publisher,  for  the  well  known  Jester- 
Poet,  Nassr-ed-dm.  This  Turkish  Eulenspiegel  is 
supposed  to  have  "flourished"  during  the  fourteenth 
century. 

Buadem  was  not  quite  five  or  six  years  of  age, 
when  he  related  the  following  dream  to  his  father: 

(6)  "Father,  last  night  I  have  seen  fancy  cakes  in 
my  dream" 

"My  son,  that  has  a  good  meaning."  (Jokingly:) 
"Give  me  ten  paras  (the  smallest  monetary  unit  cur- 
rent m  Constantinople)  and  I  will  interpret  the 
dream  for  you" 

"If  I  had  ten  paras*  I  would  not  be  dreaming  of 
cakes."  6 

Let  us  now  take  a  long  jump  all  the  way  into  the 
sixteenth  century  and  turn  our  attention  to  a 
dream  of  the  famous  physician,  philosopher  and 
mathematician,  Cardanus,  author  of  a  book,  De 
Somniis,  and  whose  faith  in  the  prophetic  truth  of 

•  Die  Schwanke  des  Nastr-ed-din  und  Buadem.  Reklam  Bib- 
liothek,  2735. 


34  Sex  and  Dreams 

his  dreams  was  so  unshakable  that  he  chose  his  wife, 
the  daughter  of  a  highway  robber,  after  a  resem- 
blance with  a  face  he  had  seen  in  dreams ;  the  dream 
had  prophesied  for  him  the  awakening  of  his  passion, 
previously  dormant,  in  that  particular  woman's 
company.  He  had  been  impotent  up  to  his  thirty- 
fourth  year.  That  an  impotent  man  should  crave 
entrance  into  the  "garden  of  love"  any  one  may 
easily  understand.  Here  is  how  Cardanus  relates 
the  story: 

(7)  One  night  I  found  myself  In  a  beautiful  gar- 
den of  flowers  and  fruit.  A  soft  air  pervaded  every- 
thing so  that  no  painter,  no  poet,  no  human  thought 
could  have  conjured  up  anything  more  charming. 
I  was  at  the  entrance  to  that  garden.  The  gate  was 
open  and  I  saw  a  girl  clad  in  white.  I  embraced  and 
kissed  her;  but  at  the  very  first  kiss  the  gardener 
bolted  the  gate  close.  I  begged  him  most  fervently 
to  leave  the  gate  open.  It  seemed  to  me  that  I  felt 
sad  about  it  and  I  was  still  clinging  to  the  girl  when 
I  was  locked  out. 

What  is  a  man  of  rich  imagery  likely  to  dream 
about  when  the  garden  of  love  closes  on  him?  This 
beautiful  example  shows  us  the  day  wish  in  a  sym- 
bolism but  partly  covered  up.  But  the  symbolism 
is  not  always  so  obvious  and  plain  as  in  this  ex- 
ample. Often  the  whole  dream  is  devoted  to  a  sym- 
bolic dramatization.  I  want  to  avoid  for  the  pres- 


Garden  of  Love  35 

ent  the  more  complicated  problems  which  we  shall 
have  to  consider  later.  I  shall  merely  quote  an  ex- 
ample from  Freud's  Interpretation  of  Dreams  show- 
ing how  the  dream  expresses  colloquialisms  through 
pictures. 

A  lady  dreams: 

(8)  A  servant  girl  climbs  on  the  ladder,  as  if  pre- 
paring for  window  cleaning  and  carries  a  chimpan- 
zee and  a  gorilla  cat  (later  corrected  to  angora  cat) 
with  her.  She  throws  the  animals  at  the  dreamer; 
the  chimpanzee  clings  to  the  latter,  who  finds  this 
"very  disagreeable. 

"This  dream  has  achieved  its  end  through  the  sim- 
plest of  means,  namely,  by  taking  a  colloquialism 
literally  and  representing  the  picture  to  which  it 
gives  rise.  'Monkey,'  like  almost  any  animal  name, 
is  a  derogatory  term,  and  the  dream  situation  merely 
depicts  the  colloquialism  fmit  Schimpfworten  um  sich 
werfen,'  'hurling  insult'."  (Freud,  Interpretation 
of  Dreams,  translated  by  Brill.) 

Occasionally  we  are  compelled  thus  to  reduce  the 
situations  and  pictures  of  a  dream  back  to  Redewend- 
ungen,  "colloquialisms."  The  dream  takes  words  in 
a  literal  sense;  we  must  conceive  the  processes  pic- 
torially.  That  requires  a  special  art  and  particular 
practice.  Both  must  be  acquired. 

In  order  to  illustrate  what  I  have  just  stated  I 
record  now  a  brief  dream  with  a  very  significant 


36  Sex  and  Dreams 

content.  Beta,7  a  man  suffering  of  anxiety  has  the 
following  dream: 

(9)  I  see  before  me  a  large  wooden  picture  of  the 
Christ.  I  take  a  chip  out  of  it. 

This  dream  is  also  to  be  understood  in  a  sym- 
bolic sense.  The  dreamer  is  still  a  believer  at  heart, 
even  strongly  so,  though  outwardly  a  fanatic  free 
thinker.  The  day  before  the  dream  he  had  read  a 
book,  entitled  La  Folie  de  Jesus  (The  Insanity  of 
Jesus).8  Suddenly  he  had  to  give  up  the  reading. 
He  is  unable  to  state  why.  It  was  a  compulsive- 
like  act.  Like  a  commandment:  Now,  quit  reading! 
The  deeper  reasons  for  this  compulsion-like  act  are 
revealed  in  this  dream.  Er  hat  sich  etwas  gegen 
seine  Gottheit  herausgenommen  (a  German  col- 
loquialism not  unlike  our  "chip  on  the  shoulder" 
expression). 

The  further  significance  of  this  dream  and  the 
relationship  between  anxiety  and  wish  need  not  be 
taken  up  at  this  time.  For  the  present  I  have 
merely  attempted  to  indicate  in  a  few  general  lines 
the  foundations  of  dream  symbolism.  The  under- 
standing of  symbolism  forms  the  basis  of  dream  in- 
terpretation. We  have  had  even  before  Freud  some 

1  For  the  subjects  whose  dreams  are  repeatedly  quoted  I 
have  adopted  substitutive  designations  in  the  form  of  Greek 
letters.  The  names  of  all  persons  are  changed  so  as  to  make 
their  recognition  impossible.  That  is  a  strong  disadvantage  in 
a  work  of  this  character.  But  it  cannot  be  done  otherwise. 
Discretion  is  the  first  duty  of  the  psychotherapeutist. 

»Dr.  Binet-SangU,  La,  Folie  de  Jesus  (Paris,  Maloine,  1908). 


Language  Symbols  37 

intimation  of  the  role  of  symbolism  in  human  life. 
Schubert  and  Kle'mpaul,  for  instance,  have  dwelt  on 
the  symbolic  conception  of  life  as  a  whole.  These 
investigators  have  also  boldly  pointed  out  the  sexual 
symbolism.  Is  it  not  remarkable  that  our  language 
(the  author  here  refers,  naturally,  to  the  German) 
distinguishes  words  according  to  their  gender? 

When  we  take  up  the  dream  analysis  we  are  im- 
pressed with  the  far-reaching  extent  of  our  symbolic 
thinking  and  particularly  of  sexual  symbolism.  In 
the  dream  anything  oblong  may  represent  the  penis 
and  anything  round  many  stand  for  the  vagina. 
But  is  that  the  case  only  in  dreams?  One  should 
consult  what  Klempaid  has  to  say  on  the  subject  in 
his  work  entitled  Das  Leben  der  Sprache,  already 
mentioned,  particularly  in  the  chapter  on  Die  Psy- 
chopathia  Sexualis  des  Volkes  (loc.  cit.,  vol  ii,  p. 
490).  He  points  out  that  language  as  a  whole  is 
sexualized  and  symbolized.  Language  is  full  of 
sexual  symbols. 


"Indeed,  the  human  race  is  love-mad,"  say 
paul.  "Whichever  way  we  turn  we  meet  perpetually 
her  phantasy,  half  morbidly,  half  foolishly  cen- 
tered on  the  sexual  sphere.  The  race  seems  to  have 
lost  its  reason!  It  cannot  put  the  male  and  female 
out  of  its  mind,  it  cannot  see  an  elevation  or  a  hole 
without  thinking  of  sex  —  and  if  it  is  a  tower  in 
which  prisoners  are  languishing  away,  it  is  called  il 
maschio  di  Volterra. 

"The  iris  is  called  fdas  M'ddchen  des  Auges,'  lit- 


38  Sex  a/nd  Dreams 

erally,  the  'girl  of  the  eye,'  not  because  of  any  re- 
semblance to  a  girl.  The  iris  itself  is  a  girl.  Be- 
cause it  has  a  hole  in  the  middle — no  anatomy  is 
needed  for  that — the  black  mid-spot  in  the  middle  of 
the  eye  looks  like  a  hole.  Hole,  trypa,  Tpvira ,  trou,  in 
all  languages  is  the  name  for  woman,  so  also  in 
Genesis  (i.  27)  ;  and  because  the  eye  is  small,  it  was 
regarded  as  a  little  girl. 

"Reflection  or  thought  assumes  this  erotic  bent 
particularly  when  something  fits  into  a  hole,  like  the 
foot  into  the  shoe,  or  the  knife  into  the  sheath, — 
when  things  come  in  pairs  and  one  sticks  into  the 
other.  All  such  'paired'  things  evoke  the  'great 
luck*  of  sexual  beings,  sexual  union, — that  which  is 
called  lingam  in  the  Ganges  region. 

"  'Qual  Buco,  tal  Cavicchio,'  is  an  Italian  pro- 
verb, or,  as  Fischart  once  remarked,  les  war  eben  em 
Zapf  fiir  diese  Flasche,  denn  faule  Eier  und  stin- 
kende  Butter  gehbren  zusammen,' — 'the  right  stop- 
per for  the  bottle,  for  bad  eggs  and  rancid  butter  be- 
long together*;. a  popular  German  saying  expresses 
the  same  thought:  'Auf  jedes  Topfchen  geho'rt  sein 
Deckelchen,' — 'every  vessel  has  its  cover.*  Es  ist 
eben  recht  dahmterher,"  continues  Kleinpaul,  "and 
numberless  technical  expressions  can  be  explained 
only  through  their  reverberation  of  the  old  Adam 
and  Eve  theme.  The  numerous  mothers,  matrices, 
etc.,  in  the  various  technical  industries  have  the 
same  origin. 

"Mutter,  Nonne,  Weib  and  Schnecke,  mother,  nun, 
female,  screw;  on  the  other  side  Voter,  Monch  and 
Mann,  father,  monk  and  male,  represent  here  only 
the  important  parts.  There  is  deep  significance  in 
such  terms:  monk  and  nun.  Often  it  happens  the 


Language  Symbols  39 

male  half  bears  also  a  particularly  significant  name, 
like  stamp,  or  spmdle,  while  the  typically  female 
parts  are  poetically  cohered  up.  The  screw  seems 
to  imply  a  marital  relationship  (spindle  and  fe- 
male)." 

Truly,  KleinpauTs  statement  is  correct:  Lan- 
guage is  full  of  sexual  symbols. 

In  fact,  it  is  enough  to  perceive  the  true  spirit  of 
the  language  in  order  to  interpret  quite  a  number  of 
dreams.  A  young  boy,  sixteen  years  of  age,  whose 
father  is  a  famous  artist  and  a  very  popular  Don 
Juan  much  admired  by  the  ladies,  tells  me  the  fol- 
lowing dream: 

(10)  Father  finds  various  holes  in  the  rooms.  I 
am  worried  because  he  alone  wants  to  stop  them  up. 

When  I  ask  him  why  it  worried  him,  he  answered, 
"Because  father  took  all  that  trouble  alone.  I  could 
help  him.  That  is  not  a  suitable  task  for  so  great 
an  artist."  He  rationalizes  his  dream — to  use  the 
fitting  expression  of  Jones.  But  we  prefer  to  take 
the  dream  literally.  The  young  man  is  an  Alexan- 
der who  is  worried  because  Philip  leaves  him  nothing 
to  conquer.  All  the  women  in  the  house  worship 
the  father:  the  mother,  the  aunt,  the  French 
teacher,  the  secretary.  He  suspects  the  father  of 
relations  grossly  sexual — perhaps  justifiedly.  The 
holes  in  the  walls  are  to  be  taken  in  KleinpauTs  lit- 
eral sense. 

We  began  with  the  general  neutral  symbolisms — 


40  Sex  and  Dreams 

the  sheafs  in  the  field  9  and  already  we  find  ourselves 
in  the  midst  of  erotic  symbolism.  That  is  inevitable 
in  the  case  of  dream  interpretation.  Whoever  takes 
up  the  subject  must  be  prepared  to  meet  the  issue. 

I  may  mention  here  another  forerunner  of 
Freud's, — the  well-known  investigator  of  dreams, 
Scherner,10  who  has  conceived  the  hypothesis  that 
all  dreams  are  generated  by  bodily  sensations.  That 
theory  has  proven  altogether  untenable.  Neverthe- 
less its  founder  formulated  a  fairly  correct  view  of 
sexual  symbolism.  Some  details  may  appear  ridic- 
ulous. But  facts  lose  none  of  their  significance 
merely  because  they  seem  ridiculous. 

Regarding  sexual  symbolism  Schemer  writes : 

"Sexual  excitation  is  symbolized  by  representa- 
tions of  the  erect  organ  itself  or  by  pictures  and 
phantasy  actions  which  aroused  desire  for  sexual 
gratification.  But  here,  too,  we  meet  the  masked 
formulations  as  preserved  by  the  plastic  art  of  the 
phantasy.  For  instance,  one  finds  on  the  street 
while  on  the  way  to  a  particular  spot,  the  stem  of 
a  clarinet,  near  by,  the  similar  portion  of  a  pipe,  a 
penny  whistle,  or  a  piece  of  fur.  (The  stem  of 
clarinet  or  whistle  represents  unmistakably  the  form 
of  the  male  organ,  the  stem-like  configuration  of  the 
found  object  corresponding  to  the  similar  form  of 

•Joseph's  dream  may  also  lend  itself  to  another, — an  erotic 
interpretation.  Dreams  of  "greatness"  and  the  wish  for  ex- 
traordinary potence  often  go  hand  in  hand.  Paranoiacs  with 
delusions  of  grandeur  often  claim  they  have  a  thousand  wives, 
a  thousand  sons,  etc. 

10 Das  Leben  des  Traumes  (Berlin,  Heinrich  Schindler,  1861). 


Sex  Symbolism  41 

the  external  male  sexual  organ;  but  the  found  ob- 
jects are  always  double,  on  account  of  the  character 
of  the  excitation  of  the  double  organ  of  vision,  which 
is  primarily  involved  in  the  act  of  finding  the  re- 
spective objects.  Finally  the  fur  piece  in  question 
stands  for  the  pubic  hairs,  just  as  the  brush  stands 
for  eyebrows  and  eyelashes,  instead  of  the  sym- 
bolically more  fitting  bush;  finding  the  three  pic- 
tures together  means  the  conjunction  of  the  objects 
represented  through  them.)  Or  as  the  result  of 
bladder  stimuli  one  finds  a  curiously  crumpled  up 
short  stem  or  cigarette  holder  which  portrays  the 
collapse  of  the  whole  male  external  apparatus. 
More  clearly  delineated  appears  to  be  the  symbol- 
ism denoting  states  of  sexual  tension,  such  as 
usually  follow  urinary  stimuli,  the  clearer  symbolic 
expression  corresponding  to  the  sharper  degree  of 
stimulation.  For  instance,  one  sees  through  a  clump 
of  trees  under  which  one  is  standing  a  near-by 
tower  of  great  height,  and  one  wonders  that  the 
highest  peak  of  the  familiar  tower  (an  object  known 
in  reality)  is  crumpled  up,  and  observing  the  round 
cupola  below,  the  impression  is  gained  that  a  second 
peak  (nothing  corresponding  to  reality)  must  have 
flattened  out  down  there;  while  thus  watching  at- 
tentively, the  dreamer  sees  himself  standing  under 
women,  or  he  sees  them  step  over  him.  The  high 
tower  represents  the  tension  of  the  active  organ,  its 
peak  seems  crumpled  or  flattened,  corresponding  to 
the  uppermost  portion  of  the  sexual  apparatus; 
phantasy  seeks  forcefully  to  find  two  towers  where 
only  one  exists  in  reality,  in  order  thus  to  express 
the  parity  of  the  lower  organ ;  it  suggests  the  vision 
of  a  high  tower  through  the  undergrowth,  because 


42  Sex  and  Dreams 

the  active  organ  in  erection  stands  forth  in  the 
midst  of  the  surrounding  pubic  hair  (underbrush). 
Tower,  peak,  double  ball,  cupola,  underbrush,  to- 
gether express  a  composite  thought,  because  phan- 
tasy fuses  all  pictures  in  one.  .  .  .  (Das  Leben  des 
Traumes,  p.  197.) 

The  next  dream  is  that  of  an  unmarried  thirty- 
year-old  woman : 

(11)  Papa  goes  around  cutting  off  all  the  leaf 
ends  to  all  the  plastic  figures  in  the  room.  I  am\ 
angry  at  that  and  want  to  prevent  it.  I  am  think- 
ing: has  he  turned  crazy? 

The  girl  tells  us  that  her  father  was  always  ter~ 
ribly  jealous.  He  did  not  allow  her  so  much  as  to 
shake  hands  with  a  strange  man.  Young  men  never 
called  at  the  house.  She  could  not  attend  a  dance. 
That  is  how  she  remained  unmarried. 

This  dream  we  may  also  take  in  a  literal  sense. 
The  father  removes  all  ends,  he  thus  prevents  her 
from  having  an  opportunity  to  become  familiar  with 
a  phallus.  In  the  dream  she  finds  courage  to  tell 
him  what  she,  unfortunately,  has  never  dared  say  to 
him  in  actual  life.  She  was  the  obedient  type  of 
daughter.  There  comes  to  her  mind  a  figure  pro- 
tected in  front  with  the  usual  fig  leaf.  We  note  the 
circumlocution  so  characteristic  of  dream  thoughts. 
Why  that  covering?  What  was  the  fig  leaf  for, — 
if  the  ends  are  clipped  off?  She  notes  how  senseless 


Sex  Symbolism  43 

her  father's  conduct  seemed  to  be.  She  is  struck 
by  the  peculiar  (crazy)  feature  of  his  conduct. 

We  thus  perceive  in  connection  with  two  different 
dreams  the  meaning  of  "hole'*  and  of  "end'*  or  peak. 
The  language  of  dreams  makes  use  of  the  cryptio 
forces  which  have  created  our  everyday  language. 

That  symbolism  holds  true  not  only  of  dreams. 
It  is  equally  valid  in  connection  with  stories,  myths, 
folklore  and  wit. 

The  symbolism  of  fairy  stories  is  particularly 
clear. 

Dream  and  story!  What  wonderful  association! 
What  the  children  experience,  the  adults  dream 
about.  New  principles  are  being  evolved.  We 
transpose  the  old  truths  and  now  declare:  the  ob- 
verse is  true:  what  the  adults  experience,  the  chil- 
dren dream  about.  That  is  not  a  mere  play  on 
words. 

Freud  has  furnished  us  the  key  to  the  meaning  of 
dreams.  Dr.  Franz  Riklin  tries  to  apply  that  key 
to  the  investigation  of  the  charming  realm  of  fairy 
stories.  And  lo !  the  attempt  proves  successful.  It 
turns  out  that  the  fairy  stories  of  children  bear  an 
intimate  inner  relationship  to  the  dreams  of  adults, 
that  they  are  pervaded  through  and  through  with 
a  cryptic  sexual  symbolism  the  significance  of  which 
presents  no  particular  difficulty.  The  Wunscherful- 
lung  und  Symbolik  im  Mdrchen  (Wish  Fulfilment 


44  Sex  and  Dreams 

and  Symbolism  of  the  Fairy  Story)  by  Riklin, 
proves  that  the  fairy  story  has  a  cryptic  sexual 
meaning.  The  fairy  story,  too,  represents  a  "wish 
fulfillment"  in  Freud's  sense,  like  the  dream. 

The  simple  fairy  stories  represent  relatively  sim- 
ple folk  wishes.    RikUn  brings  a  number  of  excellent 
illustrations.     Who  is  not  familiar  with  the  charm- 
ing Marlem  in  Bechstein's  famous  collection  of  fairy 
stories?      A   mother   weeps    three   days    and    three 
nights  over  her  most  deeply  beloved  child.    At  night 
the  door  opens  softly  and  the  deceased  child  ap- 
pears in  its  nightgown  carrying  the  little  tear  ves- 
sel in  which  all  the  mother's  tears  are  gathered  up. 
A  few  more  tears  and  the  little  vessel  is  filled  to  over- 
flowing   and    the    child    attains    peace    and    quiet. 
"Therefore,   weep   no   more,   for   thy   child  is   well 
taken  care  of  and  little  angels  are  its  playmates !" 
The  child  disappears.     The  mother  avoids  shedding 
more  tears.     The  child  must  not  be  disturbed  in  its 
heavenly  peace !    RiJclm  very  properly  observes  that 
the  story  could  equally  well  be  an  actual  dream  of 
some  particular  person.     But  it  happens  not  to  be 
an  account  of  a  particular  experience;  this  curative 
means  (consolation)  has  become  a  generalized,  psy- 
chically  purposive   belief, — namely,   that   excessive 
tears  disturb  the  peace  of  those  who  have  passed 
away !    That  is  not  a  notion  helpful  to  the  dead  but 
it  is  helpful  to  the  living.    The  same  motive  is  played 
up  in  numerous  variants:  in  the  Japanese  story 


Wish-fulfillment  45 

about  the  "Nwn  of  the  Temple  of  Armida";  in  an- 
other German  version  by  Grimm  as  "Todterihemd- 
chen";  in  the  "New  Islandic  Folktales";  edited  by 
Ritterhatis.  Everywhere  the  wish  of  the  adults  to 
be  rid  of  their  worry  sooner  reveals  itself  as  the 
cryptic  motive  of  the  weaver  of  the  fairy  story. 

The  sexual  symbolism  reveals  to  us  the  character 
of  the  story  even  more  penetratingly  than  the  prin- 
ciple of  wish  fulfillment.  Here  we  first  learn  that 
the  adults  tell  the  child  chiefly  what  they  themselves 
prefer  to  hear.  Naturally  they  do  so  in  symbolic, 
that  is,  masked,  form. 

We  underrate  the  significance  of  symbolic  acts 
and  of  symbolic  representations  in  our  everyday 
life.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  existence  is  inconceivable 
without  symbols.  Riklin  states:  "Is  not  almost 
every  word  a  symbol?  The  writing  signs  are  sym- 
bols, the  words  are  symbols,  our  mimicry,  our  ges- 
tures are  in  great  part  symbolic.  A  geographic 
chart  is  a  symbol.  Noteworthy  are  the  meaningful 
abstract  symbols:  God's  eye,  the  scales  (as,  of 
justice,  for  instance),  the  cross;  the  color  symbols: 
black,  red;  the  symbolism  of  uniforms,  etc." 

What  tremendous  power  belongs  in  the  first  place 
to  the  sexual  symbol.  It  pervades  our  whole  life. 
There  is  no  object,  which  under  certain  circum- 
stances may  not  represent  a  sexual  symbol.  A  par- 
ticular intonation,  a  deliberate  gesture,  a  wink  of 


46  Sex  and  Dreams 

the  eye  accompanying  an  innocent  remark  may  give 
the  latter  a  "double  meaning." 

Sexual  symbolism  is  the  key  which  unravels  for 
us  the  various  myths  of  the  different  races.  Also  the 
religious  formulations.  A  striking  example  of  the 
latter  we  have  in  the  concept  of  the  snake,  which 
plays  also  a  great  role  in  folklore.  A  snake  seduced 
Eve  in  paradise.  The  snake  appears  to  young  girls 
(Odd  and  the  Snake,  Bechstein),  and  when  the  lat- 
ter overcome  their  revulsion  and  take  the  cold  snake 
into  their  bed  .  .  .  the  snake  suddenly  changes  into 
a  wonderful  prince  who  had  been  bewitched.  The 
slippery,  cold,  ugly  snake  is  a  sexual  symbol,  like 
the  ugly  toad,  which  climbs  into  the  bed  of  the  king's 
daughter  (Der  Froschkonig  and  Der  Arme  Heinrich, 
of  Grimm).  Here,  too,  the  overcoming  of  disgust  is 
rewarded  with  the  presence  of  a  wonderful  prince. 
Further  illustrations  of  this  type  may  be  found  in 
Riklm's  work  already  mentioned. 

What  the  fairy  stories  mean  to  the  individual, 
that  the  folk  story  or  myth  represents  in  its  rela- 
tions to  the  folk  mind.  The  myth  is  a  folk  dream 
and  contains  in  a  cryptic  symbolic  language  and  ex- 
pression of  the  unconscious  wish-excitations  and  ful- 
fillment-hallucinations of  the  folk  mind.  The  myth, 
too,  contains  a  more  or  less  cryptic,  sometimes  fairly 
overt  and  rather  obvious,  sexual  symbolism  which 
is  remarkably  like  the  similar  dream  symbolism, — a 


Symbolism  of  Fairy  and  Myth  47 

fact  convincingly  brought  out  by  Abraham  in  his 
interesting  study  in  folk  psychology  entitled  Trawm 
und  Mythus  (Dream  and  Myth). 

The  study  of  these  myths  has  long  been  assidu- 
ously cultivated  by  the  folk-psychologists  who  justi- 
fiedly  expected  to  find  through  them  a  path  towards 
a  better  understanding  of  the  mental  life  of  the  va- 
rious people.  Just  as  dreams  disclose  the  secret 
thoughts  of  the  individual  man,  so  myths  must  dis- 
close in  unmistakable  manner  the  ideals  and  wishes 
of  the  people.  It  turns  out  that  a  number  of  myths 
which  have  appeared  at  different  times  among  the 
most  varied  nations  on  earth  show  a  remarkable  sim- 
ilarity between  them  so  that  some  investigators  were 
led  to  conclude  that  the  formation  of  myths  depends 
on  mental  processes  common  to  all  mankind.  On 
the  other  hand,  many  other  investigators  held  that 
the  similarity  of  myths  is  due  to  transference, — a 
borrowing  or  transferring  of  the  same  myth  ma- 
terial. What  was  lacking  until  recently  in  the  in- 
vestigation of  the  problem  of  myths  was  an  appre- 
ciation of  the  parables  between  the  process  of  myth 
formation  and  the  mental  life  of  the  individual. 
The  bridging  over  of  the  two  realms  of  inquiry, — 
the  world  of  individual  dreams  and  the  sphere  of 
folk  dreams  as  represented  in  myths, — represents 
a  gigantic  step  forward. 

It  is  pleasing  to  record  that  the  connecting  links 


48  Sex  and  Dreams 

between  the  social  and  the  individual  activities  of 
the  psyche  have  been  successfully  revealed  at  least 
in  one  limited  field,  namely,  The  Myth  of  the  Birth 
of  the  Hero,  in  a  study  under  that  title,  by  Otto 
Rank,  to  whom  we  were  already  indebted  for  an- 
other excellent  study,  The  Artist  (Der  Kunstler, 
Wien  und  Leipzig,  1907).  Rank  points  out  very 
convincingly  the  similarities  between  the  phantasies 
of  individuals  and  the  folk  phantasies  as  revealed 
in  a  series  of  birth  myths. 

We  want  to  lay  stress  on  the  mere  fact  of  this 
parallelism:  for  dreams  and  myths,  fairy  and  tradi- 
tional stories  present  the  same  kind  of  psychic  struc- 
ture. One  may  contend  that  the  myths  about  heroes 
were  conceived  originally  by  poets,  while  fairy 
stories  are  creations  of  the  poetic  genius  of  the 
whole  people.  Such  a  contention  may  be  met  best 
with  HebbeVs  fitting  words :  m  den  Dichtem  trdumt 
die  Menschhdt, — whole  humanity  dreams  through 
its  poets. 

An  almost  inexhaustible  fund  of  material  for  sym- 
bolism is  to  be  found  in  the  collections  gathered  by 
the  well-known  folklorist  F.  S.  Krauss  and  his  co- 
workers,  and  published  under  the  title  Anthropo- 
phyteia  (Leipzig,  Deutsche  Verlagsaktiengesell- 
schaft).  The  tremendous  material  gathered  therein 
awaits  systematic  elaboration  in  the  light  of  dream 
symbolism.  Occasionally  I  shall  refer  to  the  similari- 
ties between  folk  language  and  the  symbolism  of 


Sexual  Symbolism  49 

dreams.  The  formations  of  wit,  too,  reveal  to  us  the 
operations  of  the  unconscious.11 

I  have  thus  far  indicated  only  a  few  simple  ex- 
amples illustrating  the  significance  of  sexual  sym- 
bolism. It  is  not  possible  to  give  an  account  of  a 
dream  analysis  without  touching  on  eroticism. 
There  is,  in  fact,  no  anerotic  dream. 

The  power  of  the  sexual  instinct  is  so  tremen- 
dous that  it  probably  never  leaves  us  out  of  its  grip 
even  for  a  few  seconds  of  time.  We  shall  see  later, 
when  we  consider  the  subject  of  half  dreaming,  of 
hypnagogic  pictures  (dream  pictures  before  falling 
asleep,  or  just  before  fully  waking  up,  during  the 
so-called  "twilight"  states)  that  the  sexual  instinct 
is  momentarily  ready  to  take  possession  of  man's 
psyche. 

The  symbolism  of  dreams  is  chiefly  sexual. 
Though  the  erotic  plays  a  predominating  role  in 
the  pages  which  follow  it  is  not  my  fault.  I  cannot 
do  otherwise  than  present  the  material  as  it  re- 
veals itself. 

There  is  another  factor  which  plays  a  tremen- 
dous role  in  the  dream  life:  the  criminal  tendency. 
The  cryptic  criminal  withw  us  reveals  itself  in  our 
dream.  But  the  criminal  tendency  stands  nearly 
always  in  the  service  of  the  sexual.  Perhaps  every 
criminal  is  a  sexual  criminal — possibly.  I  expect 

11  Cf.  Freud,  Wit  and  Its  Relation  to  th*  Unconscious  (Trans- 
lation by  Brill,  Moffat,  Yard  &  Co.). 


50  Sex  and  Dreams 

to  prove  in  the  following  chapters  of  this  work  that 
the  investigator  is  not  responsible  for  the  presence 
of  the  erotic  features.  We  do  not  lay  stress  on  it 
deliberately.  It  is  there.  Whoever  is  endowed  with 
unencumbered  eyes  cannot  fail  to  see  that  sym- 
bolism plays  the  most  important  role  in  our  mental 
life. 

Why  do  persons  make  free  use  of  symbolism  in 
witticisms  and  why  do  they  usually  display  such  a 
keen  appreciation  of  the  symbolic  shadings  of  mean- 
ing employed  by  the  flirt?  Hitschmann  rightfully 
observes  12  that,  "in  the  cynical  gathering  of  male 
festivities,  or  cabarets,  or  when  reading  the  hu- 
morous papers  the  same  persons  suddenly  display 
sufficient  insight  into  sexual  symbolism!" 

What  would  be  the  sense  of  avoiding  these  facts 
of  life  simply  because  we  do  not  like  them?  This 
book  is  a  record  of  facts.  .  .  . 

The  ancient,  eternal  struggle  between  instinct  and 
society,  between  mine  and  thine  (Otto  Gross)  does 
not  cease  in  the  dream.  The  wish  fulfillment,  postu- 
lated by  Freud,  may  also  be  a  wish  fulfillment  of  the 
moral  self. 

But  there  are  many  dreams  which  do  not  fit 
within  the  range  of  wish  fulfillment,  even  though  we 
conceive  the  "conscience  dreams"  as  wishes  of  the 
moral  self.  There  are,  above  all,  the  telepathic 

"  Hitschmann,  FrewPs  Theories  of  the  Neuroses  (translated 
by  Charles  R.  Payne,  Moffat,  Yard  &  Co.). 


Wish-fulfillment  51 

dreams:  no  objective  investigator  can  doubt   any 
longer  their  existence  or  validity. 

Enforced  with  a  knowledge  of  these  facts,  we  now 
turn  our  attention  to  the  analysis  of  a  more  com- 
plex dream. 


II 


THE     ANALYSIS     OF     A     SIMPLE     DREAM THE     DREAM 

ABOUT    THE    TELEPHONE THE    BALLAD    OP    THE 

POOR  EAGLE WHAT  MRS.  A.  THINKS  OF  THE  ACT 

OF  TELEPHONING 


II 

Hebbel  in  his  diaries  remarks:  "A  man  making 
up  his  mind  to  record  faithfully  and  with  regularity 
all  his  dreams,  without  choice  or  scruples,  and  adding 
thereto  a  commentary  to  include  everything  from  his 
life  or  reading  bearing  on  the  explanation  of  his 
dreams  would  render  a  great  service  to  humanity. 
But  as  humanity  stands  to-day,  it  is  not  likely  that 
any  one  will  undertake  to  do  it ;  still  it  would  be 
worth  while  for  some  one  to  try  it  as  a  matter  of 
personal  choice." 

I  have  seen  such  diaries.  They  are  not  very  use- 
ful because  we  are  unacquainted  with  the  dreamer's 
cryptic  symbolism. 

The  great  advance  of  the  Freudian  dream  inter- 
pretation consists  precisely  in  the  fact  that  it  has 
added  a  novel  aid  to  the  art  of  interpreting  the 
dreams:  the  dreamer's  thought  reactions.  The 
dream  material  which  evoked  the  dream  comes  back 
to  the  dreamer's  mind  through  free  associations. 

But  the  thoughts  sometimes  do  not  come  up  freely. 
It  repeatedly  happens  that  on  account  of  inner  re- 
sistances the  dream  parts  evoke  no  associations  in 
the  dreamer's  mind.  A  knowledge  of  the  dream 

55 


56  Sex  and  Dreams 

language  and  symbolisms  helps  us  over  such  "dead" 
points.  The  simpler  the  mental  life  of  a  person 
the  simpler  also  are  that  person's  dreams.  A  great 
many  dreams  do  fit  to  Hebbel's  plan.  If  we  know  the 
dreamer's  life,  we  know  also  what  the  dreams  por- 
tray. There  are  also  dreams  which  betray  their 
meaning  even  before  we  have  become  acquainted 
with  the  dreamer's  life  history. 

Here  is  where  my  investigations'  deviate  from 
Freud.  Freud  places  the  greatest  emphasis  on  the 
material  found  back  of  the  manifest  dream  content. 
I  have  endeavored  to  prove  that  the  manifest  dream 
material  itself  displays  the  most  important  content, 
the  latent  dream  thoughts.  With  this  conception 
I  have  achieved  surprising  results.  I  have  discov- 
ered relationships  (for  instance,  the  symbolism  of 
death)  which  I  would  have  never  unearthed  through 
the  dreamer's  thought  associations.  That  is  not  the 
case  with  every  dream.  For  as  already  stated : 

The  dreams  are  variously  constructed.  Simple 
folk  have  different  dreams  than  sophisticated  peo- 
ple. The  dream  consists  of  separate  dream  parts 
which  group  themselves  into  a  whole, — into  a  single 
dream  picture.  The  analysis  of  a  dream  must  pro- 
ceed from  the  separate  dream  parts. 

But  how  is  the  dream  element  to  be  interpreted? 
What  is  its  meaning?  What  its  relationship  to 
wish  fulfillment? 

"Usually,  in  the  case  of  a  dream  element,  it  is 


Sense  of  Dream  Elements  57 

a  question,"  states   Freud,   "whether  it   should  be 
taken : 

"(#)  in  a  positive  or  negative  sense  (antithetical 
relationship)  ; 

"(6)      in  a  historic  sense  (as  reminiscence)  ; 

"(c)      symbolically;  or  whether 

"(d)  the  meaning  should  be  traced  to  the  word 
sounds." 

In  spite  of  this  manifold  possibility  of  interpreta- 
tion, it  must  be  observed  that  the  unraveling  of  the 
dream  work,  which  does  not  aim  to  be  understood, 
presents  no  greater  difficulties  to  the  translator 
than  the  old  hieroglyphic  writings,  for  instance, 
raise  for  their  readers."  (The  Interpretation  of 
Dreams,  authorized  translation  by  A.  Brill.) 

The  dreams  are  various.  Some  are  shadowy  and 
intricate  and  require  long  and  persistent  scrutiny. 
The  dream  may  be  reduced  to  its  component  parts 
only  with  the  aid  of  the  greatest  finesse.  As  a  light 
educational  example  let  us  analyze  a  phantasy 
dream,  which  reduces  itself,  in  fact,  to  a  single  sym- 
bolization. 

There  are  also  dreams  which  may  be  cleared  up 
with  a  single  key.  When,  for  instance, 

(1%)  A  woman  goes  to  the  butcher  shop,  to  make 
some  purchases,  finds  the  meat  stall  exposed,  chooses 
a  big,  hard  piece  of  meat,  shaped  as  a  sausage 


58  Sex  and  Dreams 

(Wurst),  shoves  it  m  her  pocket,  where  it  hardly 
fits,  as  it  melts  in  the  warmth  of  the  pocket, 
every  detail  of  the  dream  is  obvious  when  we  know 
that  it  relates  to  fteischliche  Geluste,  lusts  of  the 
flesh,  and  to  purchases  in  the  love  mart.  I  want 
to  record  here  a  dream  of  this  character,  in  which 
the  telephone  has  an  erotic  meaning.  It  is  a  long 
and  spectacular  dream,  containing  numerous  details 
which,  naturally,  are  also  significant  for  the  analysis 
but  which  I  must  overlook  for  the  present.  This 
dream  is  also  noteworthy  because  it  ends  with  a 
poetic  production.  Poetry  is  not  uncommon  in 
dreams.  Occasional  verses  are  produced  in  dreams 
and  sometimes  they  are  rather  well  done.  I  must 
forego  for  the  present  the  temptation  of  taking  up 
the  subject  of  poetic  productions  in  dreams. 
Poetry  and  dreams  are  alike  products  of  the  uncon- 
scious *  and  naturally  show  inner  relationship. 

The  pleasant  dream  of  Mrs.  Alpha,  which  ends  in 
a  ballad,  reads :  2 

(13)  I  visit  my  sister  and  find  only  my  brother-in- 
law  at  home.  The  telephone  rings.  Astonished,  I 
wonder  since  when  the  instrument  had  'been  intro- 
duced mto  the  house.  My  brother-in-law  throws 

*Cf.  my  Study  entitled  Poetry  and  Neurosis  (authorised 
English  Version  by  James  S.  Van  Teslaar). 

•I  take  this  opportunity  to  remark  that  all  dreams  are  re- 
corded exactly  as  the  dreamers  have  written  them  down  for 
me.  The  most  trivial  colloquialism,  an  error  in  spelling,  some 
peculiarity  of  punctuation — may  have  great  significance  for 
the  analysis. 


Telephone  Dream  59 

a  deprecating  glance  at  me  and  asks  whether  I  do 
not  read  the  daily  papers.  I  answer,  saying  th<at 
I  probably  do  not  do  so  with  sufficient  attentiveness 
amd  ask  what  that  has  to  do  with  the  telephone. 
The  brother-in-law  tells  me  that  the  whole  telephone 
system  is  now  undergoing  a  radical  change  and  since 
the  stupid,  unreliable  telephone  girls  have  been  re- 
placed by  men  belonging  to  the  best  educated  circles 
who  have  volunteered  to  take  up  the  service  in  hourly 
rotation,  there  is  no  more  ground  for  worry  or  hard- 
ships. There  is  not  a  decent  family  in  the  whole 
of  Vienna  without  its  own  telephone  and  since  there 
are  so  many  subscribers,  the  cost  to  each  has  mate- 
rially decreased.  I  perceive  at  once  the  advantages 
of  the  telephone  service  and  I  am  enthusiastic  about 
securing  it  at  once.  "A  fool,  whoever  has  no  tele- 
phone," I  exclaim  very  eagerly  and  ask  about  the 
charges.  "Only  one  hundred  kronen  per  year," 
says  my  brother-in-law.  "Ridiculous,  so  small  a 
charge,"  I  declare,  convinced,  as  I  am  already,  and 
miraculously  extract  from  my  pocketbook,  usually 
empty,  a  banknote  of  the  required  denomination. 
I  press  impatiently  for  the  prompt  acceptance  of 
my  subscription.  My  brother-in-law  takes  the 
money  and  I  hear  him  negotiate  over  the  telephone. 
A  gentleman  appears,  beardless,  dark,  smatt,  with 
a  repulsive  exterior  and  threatening  loud  voice. 
He  introduces  himself  as  a  bass  singer  of  the  Court 
Opera  and  states  that  he  is  the  man  in  charge  of 


60  Sex  and  Dreams 

my  telephone  number.  My  brother-in-law  takes  me 
aside  and  advises  me  to  be  very  courteous  with 
tlfc  man  and  to  invite  him  occasionally  to  an  eve" 
ning  meal  and  I  will  then  be  treated  with  better  con- 
sideration. I  tett  him  frankly  that  I  cannot  bear 
that  terrible  man's  voice  and  I  would  rather  give  up 
the  telephone  than  have  that  horrible  fettow  shout 
into  my  ears  in  the  future.  "Give  me  back  my 
money,"  I  say  to  him,  disappointed.  "That  I  can- 
not do,  I  have  paid  it  in  already,"  is  what  I  am 
answered.  With  m)e  it  is  always  but  a  step  from 
the  highest  happiness  to  the  depths  of  despair  and, 
disconsolate,  now  that  I  am  burdened  with  the  tele- 
>phone,  I  ask  whether  I  couW  not  have  the  Opera 
Tenor  assigned  to  me.  Tenors  have  voices  that  are 
much  more  pleasant  to  hear.  Again  a  man  appears, 
stout,  beardless,  with  red  cheeks,  introduces  himself 
as  the  Imperial  Opera  tenor,  and  inquires  about  the 
telephone.  1  declare  at  once  that  his  organ  pleases 
me  better  than  the  other  man's,  and  that  I  am  very 
desirous  to  exchange  the  gentlemen.  This  man  is 
accompanied  by  a  woman  whom  he  introduces  to  me 
as  his  sister,  an  actress.  He  looks  up  my  brother- 
in-law  and  the  bass  singer  to  negotiate  the  exchange 
with  the  latter.  The  bass  singer  does  it  with  ob- 
vious HI  grace  and  presently,  after  an  exchange  of 
some  angry  words,  the  meaning  of  which  I  do  not 
perceive,  I  see  the  bass  singer  muttering  insults  as 
he  leaves.  My  misfortune  is  over,  and  overflowing 


Telephone  Dream  61 

with  happiness,  I  now  ask  the  lady  and  gentlemcm 
to  be  seated.  I  try  to  be  courteous  and,  mindful  of 
brother-in-law's  advice,  I  extend  my  invitation  for 
supper,  which  is  eagerly  accepted.  "What  happy 
evenings  we  shall  have,"  I  think  to  myself,  charmed. 
The  actress  holds  out  the  promise  of  reciting  occa- 
sionally and  my  joy  is  boundless.  "In  fact,  if  you 
wish  to  hear  me,  I  will  gladly  recite  you  something 
right  now,"  says  the  charmmg  creature  and  begins. 
It  is  an  unknown  poem  by  Baumbach,  called  Der 
Arme  Igel,  The  Poor  Eagle,  and  I  listen  to  its  re- 
cital with  the  greatest  interest.  Then  I  wake  up 
and  I  note  down  the  poem.3 

This  dream,  apparently  so  happy  and  filled  with 
humor  embodies  the  tragedy  of  a  life.  The  ballad 
of  the  poor  eagle  is  the  story  of  her  marriage.  She 
is  unhappily  married.  She  dislikes  her  husband; 
she  cannot  endure  his  tendernesses.  When  he  at- 
tempts coitus,  she  begins  to  cry  out  in  the  middle  of 
the  act  and  pushes  him  away  from  her.  She  is 
afraid  of  her  own  libido.  If  she  could  give  herself 
without  libidinous  excitation  she  would  do  so.  But 
because  she  does  not  want  to  be  roused  by  him  she 
repulses  her  husband  during  the  sexual  embrace. 
She  has  thought  out  all  sorts  of  excuses  to  keep 
him  at  a  distance.  One  day  she  has  migraine,  an- 
other day  influenza,  a  third  day  she  is  perhaps  just 

*The  original  of  the  poem  is  reproduced  at  the  end  of  the 
chapter. 


62  Sex  and  Dreams 

beginning  to  menstruate  and  this  keeps  up  for  weeks 
in  her  case,  which  of  course  cannot  be  true. 
Finally  the  fear  of  her  husband's  embrace  became 
an  obsessive  thought-feeling  with  her  and  she  fled 
into  a  severe  neurosis,  which  made  it  possible  for  her 
to  live  an  abstinent  existence.  That  her  prudery 
is  directed  only  towards  her  husband,  for  whom 
"fear  has  repressed  love"  as  the  poem  expresses  it, — 
is  shown  by  the  analysis  of  the  telephone  dream  and 
of  her  other  dreams.  One  of  her  earlier  dreams 
which  she  brought  to  me,  dealt  with  a  very  sig- 
nificant situation.  The  man  whom  she  truly  loved 
but  did  not  marry  was  in  her  bed  and  acted  as  her 
ardent  and  tireless  lover.  I  step  in  but  the  loving 
pair  are  not  disturbed  and  thereupon  I  quote  the 
verse : 

Zur  Liebe  ist  es  nie  zu  spat, 
Wie  man  es  jetzt  yesehen  hat. 

The  lover  retorts  at  that : 

Heil!  Heil!  Heil! 
Schon  ist  ihr  Hinterteil* 

Her  sexual  aversion,  therefore,  is  directed  only 
against  her  poor  husband,  whom  she  consciously  dis- 
likes. In  the  sad  ballad  she  even  has  him  become 
insane  and  die  off  in  three  days. 

That  has  a  deep  meaning.     The  man,  in  fact,  is 

The  lady  subject  who  relates  this  dream  has  the  habit  and 
the  ready  knack  of  improvising  verses,  and  can  speak  in  rhymes 
for  days.  The  composition  of  the  ballad  in  the  dream  is  there- 
fore natural  in  her  case. 


Interpretation  63 

not  normal  and  suffers  of  a  mild  progressive  paral- 
ysis. Their  family  physician  states  that  he  may 
last  possibly  another  three  years. 

Her  first  love  was  a  tenor.  That  explains  the 
contrast  between  bass  and  tenor  in  that  long  dream 
picture.  Her  husband  has  a  deep  sonorous  bass 
voice,  which  sounds  painful  in  her  ears  and  seems 
disgusting  to  her.  She  has  accustomed  herself  to 
disregard  his  voice  entirely.  She  simply  does  not 
hear  when  he  speaks. 

That  explains  the  telephone  dream.  The  sexual 
symbolism  of  the  telephone  was  well  known  for  a 
time  in  Vienna  and  actually  current.  In  one  of  the 
popular  amusement  places  devoted  to  the  lighter 
Muse  a  well-known  soubrette  sang  for  a  year  or 
more  a  telephone  song  full  of  pointed  hints.  It 
was,  in  fact,  a  plain  description  of  the  sexual  act, 
in  which  the  various  technical  terms  of  telephony 
were  employed  with  remarkable  pointedness.  A 
young  man  wishes  to  learn  the  art  of  telephony. 
The  girl  who  has  the  apparatus  in  charge  gives  him 
the  "receiver"  in  hand,  he  calls  up,  central  answers ; 
he  wants  another  "number,"  and  telephones  so  ex- 
citedly that  he  nearly  wrecks  the  apparatus,  etc. 

The  same  sexual  symbolism  gives  the  key  for  the 
understanding  of  this  dream. 

The  dream  begins  with  incest  thoughts  about  the 
brother-in-law  who  is  very  happy  in  his  married  life. 
She  finds  him  alone  in  the  house  and  the  telephone 


64  Sex  and  Dreams 

rings  at  once,  that  is,  her  sexual  longings  are  roused. 
The  brother-in-law,  heretofore  a  solid,  conservative 
Catholic,  opposed  to  all  reform  movements  likely  to 
weaken  Catholic  rigor  of  the  marriage  ties,  that 
same  brother-in-law  who  refuses  to  read  the  daily 
papers  devoted  to  progress,  that  confirmed  clerical- 
minded  fellow,  now  tells  her  that  the  sexual  life  of 
humanity  is  being  placed  on  another,  modern  basis. 
This  refers  to  the  oft-mentioned  theme  of  free  love. 
Men  of  good  standing,  cultured  men  (what  a  con- 
trast to  her  husband)  are  volunteering  to  give  tele- 
phone service  and  hourly  take  their  turns  at  it.  We 
note  this  to  be  a  sort  of  male  service,  the  man  weak- 
ened by  telephoning  being  at  once  replaced  by  an- 
other. There  are  thus  no  fears  and  no  hardships 
any  more,  as  with  her  husband,  whose  potence  ap- 
pears terribly  ill  adjusted  to  his  appetite. 

The  act  of  "telephoning"  is  no  longer  indecent. 
On  the  contrary,  there  is  no  decent  family  in  the 
whole  city  of  Vienna  without  its  own  telephone. 
The  guilt  is  smaller  in  any  individual  instance,  the 
larger  the  number  of  sinners  (the  number  of  sub- 
scribers is  tremendous;  therefore  the  cost  is  corre- 
spondingly lowered).  She,  too,  pays  one  hundred 
kronen  for  a  Sprachrohr  (literally,  a  speaking 
tube.)  B  That  was  theretofore  the  price  of  an  auto- 

5  The  Sprachrohr,  literally  "speaking  tube,"  of  course,  is  a 
symbol  for  the  penis.  We  note  in  this  connection  the  tendency 
of  the  dream  to  express  all  sexual  dreams  as  bisexual,  a 


Interpretation  65 

matic  telephone  (that  is,  masturbation — automat- 
ically used  sexuality — auto-erotism).  My  last  bill, 
too,  amounted  to  one  hundred  kronen,  showing  that 
the  brother-in-law  of  the  dream  is  a  fusion  of  my- 
self and  the  brother-in-law.  This  process  whereby 
two  or  more  persons  or  incidents  are  fused  in  one 
picture  will  be  referred  to  repeatedly  in  our  work. 
Noteworthy  also  is  the  pocket,  "usually  empty," 
which  means,  the  empty  vagina,  which  would  secure 
for  itself  a  respectable  sympathetic  male  through 
purchase.  The  brother-in-law  negotiates  the  sub- 
scription to  the  telephone.  First  there  appears  her 
own  husband;  she  was  put  in  his  charge — the 
brother-in-law  had  witnessed  her  engagement  (my 
telephone  number  was  put  in  his  charge).  The  ad- 
vice to  invite  him  to  evening  meals  shows  the  con- 
nections between  eating  and  sexuality.6  Evening 
meals  here  means  night's  lodgings.  But  she  pre- 
fers to  give  up  her  telephone.  That  really  corre- 
sponds to  the  actual  facts  in  the  case,  as  we  have 
suspected  from  the  first.  She  is  dissatisfied,  she 
wants  her  money  back  (meaning  here  the  dowry, 
which  has  been  meanwhile  squandered  away),  she 
wants  a  separation,  a  step  which  her  Catholic 
brother-in-law  has  thus  far  used  his  whole  influence 
to  prevent. 

tendency  which  we  shall  have  repeatedly  occasion  to  point  out. 
The  telephone  has  a  transmitter  and  a  receiver. 

"Frequently,  in  German,  "einen  zum  Abendbrot  einladen," 
used  in  same  sense. 


66  Sex  and  Dreams 

The  pleasing  tenor,  so  willing  to  accept  the  in- 
vitation to  supper,  who  appears  next,  she  finds  very 
agreeable.  She  would  like  to  exchange  her  husband 
for  him.  The  man  whom  she  likes  so  well  is  un- 
fortunately married.  (He  is  accompanied  always 
by  a  lady.)  In  the  dream  she  turns  the  antago- 
nistic woman  into  a  very  loving  sister,  in  accordance 
with  her  wish.  The  "actress"  is  a  reproach  against 
the  tenor's  wife  and  means:  she  is  a  comedian  and 
makes  a  fool  of  you!  The  bass  singer  disappears 
at  last,  muttering  harsh  words ;  she  is  very  courte- 
ous and  invites  the  gentleman  to  supper.  She  thus 
has  a  man  and  a  woman  at  her  disposal.  The  pic- 
ture very  clearly  hints  at  the  patient's  homosexual 
inclinations.  Both  erotic  components,  her  homo- 
and  her  heterosexuality  are  coming  into  play.  We 
now  understand  her  enthusiastic  feeling:  "Nein! 
Werden  das  genussreiche  Abende  sein.  My!  what 
pleasurable  evenings  we  shall  have" 

The  actress  will  also  recite,  an  act  which, 
clearly  bears  the  same  cryptic  meaning  as  "tele- 
phoning." 

That  charming  creature  now  recites  the  poem  im- 
plying scorn  for  her  husband  and  culminating  in 
the  thought  that  an  eagle  belongs  only  to  an 
eagle. 

Further  analysis  shows  that  she  herself  is  that 
charming  creature.  She  had  been  often  so  called, 


Interpretation  67 

as  a  girl.  She  identifies  herself  with  the  wife  of 
the  beloved  man.7 

Finally  the  act  of  "telephoning,"  has  also  an- 
other meaning  which  is  well  known  to  her.  In  con- 
gre»su  the  constrictor  cunnei  was  excited  into  action 
at  first  and  the  husband  responded  with  a  corre- 
sponding muscular  motion.  During  the  first  part 
of  her  married  life  she  was  happy  and  .  .  .  "tele- 
phoned." Soon  afterwards  the  libido  disappeared 
during  the  act,  being  replaced  by  a  dread  of  the 
libido.  The  "telephoning"  ceased.8 

Naturally  the  dream  reveals  many  other  associa- 
tions. But  it  is  not  necessary  for  us  to  dwell  longer 
on  this  dream  and  instead  we  turn  our  attention  to 
other  analyses.  One  further  remark  I  may  offer 
with  regard  to  the  character  of  the  dream.  I  have 
called  it  a  phantasy  dream.  It  means  that  this 
dream  clearly  represents  the  transposition  of  a  day- 
dream into  a  slightly  veiled  form  of  dream  lan- 
guage. This  type  of  dream  is  very  frequently 
found  among  hystericals.  The  dreams  of  this  type 
do  not  tax  at  all  the  interpreter's  ingenuity. 

T  Here  we  see  a  proof  of  her  strong  self-love,  the  so-called 
narcissism,  which  was  indicated  also  in  connection  with  the 
"automatic  telephone." 

•The  telephone  symbolism  links  up  through  associations  with 
receiver,  in  technical  sense.  In  vol.  VI  of  Anthropophyteia, 
Dr.  Aigremont  has  published  a  very  instructive  essay  on 
Muschel  und  Schnecke  ah  Symbole  der  Vulva  ehemals  und 
jetzt.  The  Schnecke,  moreover,  is  a  bisexual  symbol  and  as 
Schneck  stands  for  the  penis. 


68  Sex  and  Dreams 

DER   ARME    IGEL 

(Ballade) 

Em  Igel  fand  gef  alien 

Ernst  an  der  Jungfer  Maus, 

Der  putzigsten  von  alien 

Im  kinderreichen  Haus 

Bern,  gut  en  Feldmausvater, 

Dem  Wirt:  "Zum  schwarzen  Kater.' 

Da  hielt,  wie  sich  gebuhret, 

Um  Mausi  Igel  an, 

Der  Voter  ward  geruhret, 

Gab  seinen  Segen  dann. 

Und  selig  fiihrt  die  liebe  MOILS 

Der  Igel  in  sei/n  Igelhaus. 

Im  Rausch  des  Glilcks  versunken, 
Voll  Zartlichkeit  den  Sinn, 
Naht  er  sich  Liebestrunken 
Der  siissen  Mauselin. 
Sem  Herz  schlug  vor  Verlangen 
Sie  liebend  zu  empfangen. 

Kaum  hat  er  sie  vmf asset 

Mit  treuem,  starkem  Arm, 

Voll  Schreck  er  von  ihr  lasset, 

Sie  piepst,  das  Gott  erbarm. 

Doch  wird's  dabei  dem  Ehmann  klar, 

Dass  er  als  Igel  stachlig  war. 


The  Poor  Eagle  69 

Trotz  alter  Liebesgluten 
Blieb  Igels  Gliick  beschrdnJct; 
Es  hat  bei  Maus,  der  guten, 
Die  Furcht  die  Lieb'  verdrangt 
Und  nimmer  durft,  o — wehe 
Der  Mails  er  in  die  Ndhe 

Dem  Igel  stieg  zu  Kopfe 
Der  Stachelungliickswahn, 
Er  ward  zum  irren  Tropfe 
Und  Tcrdnkelnd  starb  er  dran; 
Man  hat  nach  dreien  Tagen 
Zu  Grabe  ihn  getragen. 

Moral: 

Drum  Igel  frei  in  klugem  Si/rm 
Stets  nur  urn  erne  Igelm. 


in 


SUPERFICIAL    ASPECTS    OF    DREAM    INTERPRETATION 

THE    MOON    AND    THE    EARTH THE    "RATHAUs" 

DREAM REPRESENTATION     OF     UNBRIDLED     LIFE 


Suche  in  das  Irmere  jedes  Menschen  ewzudringen; 
aber  gestatte  aiich  jedem  anderen  in  devne  Seele 
einzugehen. 


HI 

[Endeavor  to  penetrate  into  every  one's  inner 
self;  but  allow  also  the  others  to  look  into  your  soul.] 

Marcus  Aurelius. 

Let  us  endeavor  once  more  to  bring  into  relief  the 
superficial  aspects  of  dream  life  through  the  anal- 
ysis of  a  fe,w  examples.  We  turn  our  attention 
again  to  a  dream  which  portrays  but  a  simple 
symbolism. 

The  following  is  a  dream  of  Miss  Gamma: 

(14)  A  laundry  bag  in  my  hand.  I  have  emptied 
it.  It  "was  futt  of  dirty,  gray  linen.  A  pillow  case, 
gray  dirty,  sanitary  napkins  (way  below),  a  whole 
pack  of  them — everything  disgusting.  I  had  to 
empty  everything. 

A  symbolic  representation  of  her  psychoanalytic 
treatment.  She  washes  her  dirty  linen  before  me. 
During  the  last  consultation  hour  she  told  me  about 
her  menstruation  difficulties ;  the  pillow  case  refers 
to  certain  intimate  doings  which  took  place  in  bed. 
She  has  a  great  disgust  for  such  things.  But  she 
has  the  feeling  that  she  must  tell  everything  (empty 
entirely  the  laundry  bag)  so  as  to  get  over  her  trou- 
bles once  for  all.  All  her  thoughts  center  on  the 

73 


74  Sex  and  Dreams 

notions  of  "clean"  and  "unclean."  She  is  at  pres- 
ent taking  care  of  a  sort  of  Mohrenwasche.  Es 
grant  ihr  davor, — she  abhors  it.  (Here,  a  play  on 
the  double  meaning  of  grau,  gray,  and  grauen,  aver- 
sion, horror;  a  reference  to  the  dirty  linen  as  well 
as  to  her  horror  and  disgust.)  The  whole  dream  is 
a  typical  symbolic  transposition  of  her  waking 
thoughts. 

But  that  interpretation  corresponds  only  to  the 
most  superficial  layer  of  the  dream.  It  embodies 
some  of  the  recent  occurrences.  But  every  dream 
derives  its  stimuli  from  various  layers  before  it  be- 
comes a  more  or  less  loosely  knit  unit.  It  is  over- 
determined  (uberdeterminiert,  Freud)  and  yields 
additional  meaning.  It  contains  also  an  infantile  root. 

The  earlier  layers  of  the  dreamer's  associations 
relate  to  her  sensations  during  her  first  menstrua- 
tion. She  thought  she  was  unclean.  (Among  some 
people  the  menstruating  woman  is  considered  unclean 
and  is  taboo  for  a  time.)  Further  associations  lead 
to  her  youth,  when  she  remembers  having  searched 
the  parents*  bed  linen  for  such  spots.  Finally  there 
come  to  surface  infantile  reminiscences  which  show 
that  her  disgust  of  dirt  was  preceded  by  a  period 
of  intensive  mysophilia. 

Further  associations  to  laundry  sack  lead  to  a 
sack  of  a  different  kind — the  scrotum.  Two  serious 
traumas  reveal  themselves  to  her  mind's  eye.  An 
uncle  gave  her  to  hold  his  phallus.  The  recall  of 


Associations  75 

the  ejaculation  (I  had  to  empty  out  everything) 
is  associated  with  a  strong  reaction  of  disgust.  An 
earlier  reminiscence  relates  to  a  similar  incident  in 
which  her  younger  brother  figured.  Noticeable  once 
more  is  the  bisexual  use  of  laundry  sack,  which  as 
symbol  is  associated  with  the  practice  of 
masturbation. 

We  shall  not  tarry  but  instead  will  proceed  to 
some  other  "superficial"  analyses.  For  the  most 
part  we  shall  limit  ourselves  to  the  uppermost  layers 
of  associations. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  simple  process  of  wish  ful- 
fillment in  fairy  stories.  A  child  appears  to  the 
mother  begging  her  to  weep  no  more.  Her  tears 
disturbs  the  child's  peace  in  the  grave.  I  want  to 
relate  now  a  similar  "consolation"  dream.  An 
elderly  woman  who  has  lost  her  husband  two  years 
previously  dreams : 

(15)  Our  dog,  old  and  useless  1  see  lying  on  the 
sofa  and  breathing  his  last.  My  son-in-law  suddenly 
comes  home  bringing  along  a  little,  lovely  brown 
dog.  I  asTc  him,  "Consoling  yourself  as  soon  as 
that?"  He  raises  his  shoulders  saying:  "Why  not? 
What  is  the  use  to  keep  on  mourning.  One  must 
learn  to  accept  the  inevitable." 

The  woman  had  this  dream  on  the  anniversary 
of  her  husband's  death.  For  two  years  the  widow 
had  worn  mourning  and  permitted  herself  no  dis- 
traction. In  the  dream  her  son-in-law  represents 


76  Sex  and  Dreams 

her  own  sober  judgment:  Don't  mourn  any  longer! 
What  comes  of  this  everlasting  mourning?  Do  the 
way  wise  folks  are  doing. 

The  objectification  of  one's  own  thoughts  through 
another  person  is  extremely  common.  Other 
thoughts,  too,  suggest  themselves  through  the 
dream.  The  old  (dog,  as  sign  of  scorn)  is  dead, 
take  another.  Further,  the  fearsome  thought,  the 
son-in-law  could  easily  console  himself,  if  his  wife 
(her  young,  brunette  daughter)  was  to  pass 
away.  .  .  . 

But  for  the  present  we  still  limit  ourselves  to  the 
superficial  meaning  disclosed  by  the  simplest  asso- 
ciations. 

A  very  fine,  artistically-inclined  girl  tells  me  that 
she  has  had  during  the  previous  night  a  "wonder- 
fully beautiful  poetic  dream,"  which  has  made  a  last- 
ing impression  upon  her.  She  tells  me  the  dream 
and  also  writes  it  out  at  my  request: 

(16)  It  seems  I  had  already  been  with  a  couple 
of  girls  in  a  train,  namely  at  the  open  door,  and 
there  was  a  vague  feeling  that  I  was  in  some  har- 
monic relationship  with  one  J.  K.,  and  there  was  also 
something  between  H.  (the  other  girl)  and  myself. 

Am  sittvng  later  m  a  large  third  class  compart" 
ment,  near  the  window,  far  forward  (in  the  direction 
of  the  train)  and  to  the  left,  back  to  back  with  the 
two.  Moreover,  it  seems  there  is  no  one  else  in  the 
compartment. 


Poetic  Dream  77 

/  stand  up  and  through  the  window  I  look  upon 
the  moon  hovering  in  the  shape  of  a  gigantic  egg 
yolk,  somewhat  double  her  customary  size.  To  the 
left  of  it  a  lummous  ring  fitting  it,  much  like  the 
Saturn  rings. 

I  make  some  remark  about  how  strange  it  is  that 
the  moon  should  hover  so  close  to  the  railroad  track, 
and  H.  answered  saying  that  it  was  but  an  optical 
illusion.  "Is  that  so,"  I  say.  "I  am  going  to  find 
out,"  and  I  lean  forward  to  catch  the  moon  with 
both  hands  and  draw  it  into  the  compartment.  The 
ring  around  it  I  disregarded,  it  moved  along. 

But  under  my  hands  the  moon  was  elastic  and 
wavered  around.  It,  felt  like  the  pretty  yolk  swim- 
ming in  a  plateful  of  soup  when  one  tries  to  squeeze 
it  with  the  spoon  and  the  egg  yolk  cannot  be  broken 
and  it  resumes  its  shape  every  time. 

I  gave  it  up  and  fell  back  on  my  seat  exhausted, 
thinking  how  presumptuous  it  would  be  for  me  to 
draw  the  moon  inside  and  rob  the  earth  of  its  moon, 
and  I  don't  know  whether  I  actually  said  so,  but  H., 
at  any  rate,  seemed  to  say  to  me:  daring  it  would 
not  be.  Only  you're  inexperienced  and  don't  under- 
stand as  yet  the  relations  of  things.  She  referred 
distinctly  to  physiologic  relations.  Everything  is 
intertwined  with  endless  threads  into  everything  else 
and  reverts  back  to  itself  again. 

I  seated  myself  again,  keeping  silent,  but  think- 
ing: how  strange  and  comical. 


78  Sex  and  Dreams 

This  *  innocent  dream  of  a  virgin"  enables  one 
to  depict  the  state  of  her  mind.  One  finds  that  she 
already  dimly  perceives  a  great  deal  and  she  holds 
herself  back  from  certain  knowledge.  The  fitting 
of  one  thing  into  another  is  perceived  as  "psycholog- 
ical" and  the  organic  aspect  is  suppressed.  One 
also  notes  that  she  perceives  these  excitations  as 
sinful  and  she  envies  her  friend  H.,  the  simple  sweet 
girl,  who  has  a  lover,  on  account  of  the  latter's  ex- 
periences. The  dream  does  not  expose  a  riddle:  it 
depicts  merely  a  simple,  romantically  disposed  un- 
gratified  person.  I  state  anticipatively  that  the 
picture  of  the  moon  was  soon  found  to  be  a  sym- 
bolism for  penis  and  testicles. 

The  ring  is  the  engagement  ring.  She  neglects 
the  ring  later.  She  is,  therefore,  prepared  to  con- 
sider extramarital  coitus,  like  her  friend  H.  The 
statement,  "You  don't  understand  that.  Every- 
thing is  intertwined  with  endless  threads  (spermal 
threads)  into  everything  else  and  reverts  back  to 
itself,"  is  particularly  striking.  It  is  noteworthy 
also  that  her  compartment  is  a  Durchgangscoupe,  a 
"  passage"  compartment.  The  vulgar  term  for  tes- 
ticles comes  to  surface  in  the  "Eidotter,"  the  egg 
yolk. 

Miss  Gamma  relates  an  almost  identical  dream: 

(17 )  I  saw  floating  in  the  air  a  great  globe,  sur- 
rounded with  a  rmg  of  blue  glass,  like  a  wheel. 

The  meaning  is   the  same.     Her  mother's  mar- 


Sexual  Symbolism  79 

riage  ring  has  a  wonderful  blue  stone.  The  ring  on 
the  finger  is  a  symbol  of  sexual  union.  The  min- 
ister puts  the  ring  on  the  bride's  finger ;  that  is,  she 
may  now  become  acquainted  with  the  marital  act. 
In  both  dreams  we  find  the  bisexual  symbol:  the 
globe  and  the  ring, — in  a  word  the  lingam. 

Another  genital  symbolism  is  revealed  by  the 
dream  of  J.  N.,  a  widow : 

(18)  I  am  in  the  market  shopping.     Folks  going 
home.     Lights  are  being  put  out.     We  went  to  the 
checking  room.     My  umbrella  is  not  there — is  miss- 
ing,— another  one  is   there  with   a  broken  handle. 
The  handle  is  like  a  Polish  Jew — with  a  great  cork- 
screw nose.     I  take  it  in  hand  to  try  it  out  and  to* 
see  whether  I  could  lean  on  it  and  think  to  myself: 
the  umbrella  is  not  so  bad  as  it  appears  to  be. 

The  umbrella  is  a  common  phallic  symbol.  Open- 
ing it  up  corresponds  to  erection.  The  poor  wom- 
an had  lost  her  husband  (light  going  out).  She 
has  no  umbrella  any  more  (my  umbrella  is  not 
there).  Her  best  friend  is  a  Jew.  (The  "broken 
handle"  and  the  "cut"  handle  are  play  words  on 
circumcision.)  The  meaning  of  the  dream  is:  "In 
case  of  need  the  devil  eats  flies.  Try  the  Jew;  he 
is  your  only  consolation  in  your  misery.  Perhaps 
he  turns  out  better  than  you  think." 

Somewhat  more  complicated  is  the  next  dream, 
related  to  me  by  X.  Z.,  a  philosopher: 

(19 )  I  dream  of  a  triangle  supposed  to  symbolize 


80  Sex  and  Dreams 

some  philosophic  principle  and  which  serves  me,  per- 
haps others  also,  as  a  sort  of  support.  The  trian- 
gle grows  gradually  smaller  and  more  angular  finally 
it  is  but  a  spear  and  therefore  it  is  no  longer  fit  to 
serve  as  a  support  and  I  am  about  to  fall  into  a 
terrible  abyss.  I  awake  with  a  terrible  loud  outcry 
and  all  my  body  is  shaking. 

He  lives  with  a  married  couple.  The  man  is  his 
best  friend.  He  maintains  a  triangular  relation- 
ship. The  friend  is  the  basis  of  that  relationship. 
That  basis  disappears,  that  is,  the  friend  dies.  He 
unites  himself  with  the  woman.  The  death  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  deliberately  induced.  He  has 
murderous  thoughts  (spear,  Spiess — SpiessgeseUe), 
and  the  fall  into  the  abyss  is  the  terrific  crime  of 
which  his  most  secret  self  is  dreaming.  The  lingam 
after  the  death  of  the  husband  explains  the  riddle 
of  a  unit  growing  out  of  a  triangle.  Associations 
lead  here  upon  the  path  of  religious  scruples  (trin- 
ity). The  philosophic  thoughts  are  masked  erotic 
wishes.  Deeper  layers  reveal  the  relationship  of 
the  child  to  the  parents. 

Mr.  Dalton  dreams: 

(W)  I  have  two  different  shoes:  a  yellow  one  on 
the  left  foot,  on  the  right,  a  black  one. 

He  loves  two  women:  one  is  blond,  the  other  is 
dark.  More  significant  yet  the  meaning:  schwarz- 
gelb,  yellowish-black.  He  is  an  Austrian  and  wears 
on  his  feet  the  colors  of  his  emperor  (father).  He 


Sexual  Symbolism  81 

is  a  typical  skeptic.  He  vacillates  continuously  be- 
tween man  (the  dark  father)  and  woman  (the  blond 
mother).  His  desire  is  to  satisfy  both.  .  .  .  His 
psychic  hermaphroditism  (Adler)  is  wonderfully  well 
expressed  in  this  picture.  Also  his  most  powerful 
passions:  jealousy  (yellow)  and  his  dark  thought  of 
revenge  (black). 

Sometimes  a  dream  brings  to  light  unusual  wish 
fulfillments.  It  mediates  transposing  sinful  wishes 
into  respectable  realities.  A  prudish  woman,  much 
devoted  to  her  husband,  is  interested  in  a  young 
writer.  She  would  like  to  meet  him.  The  dream 
conjures  up  the  desired  opportunity.  She  dreams: 

(21)  I  am  confined  to  bed  after  a  serious  internal 
operation.  My  husband  stands  at  the  head  of  the 
bed,  looking  at  me  sympathetically  and  kindly,  his 
hand  on  my  shoulder.  Bending  over  me  and  looking 
me  straight  in  the  eye  is  the  young  poet.  I  am  com- 
ing out  of  narcosis  or  out  of  a  deep  slumber. 
Seeing  my  husband  and  the  poet,  I  feel  in  the  dream 
that  the  blood  is  rushing  to  my  cheeks  and  I  say  to 
the  poet:  "You  here!"  He  gazes  lovingly  at  me 
and  exclaims:  "Thank  God!  She  is  saved"  "And 
you,  how  do  you  happen  to  be  here,  now?"  I  ask* 
"I  am  a  physician,  madam,"  he  says,  "I  have  as- 
sisted at  the  operation."  My  cheeks  redden,  I  turn 
my  head  sideways  and  hide  in  the  pillows  and  shut 
my  eyes. 

All  wishes   are  gratified.     She  has   a  wonderful 


82  Sex  and  Dreams 

white  body.  The  poet  is  physician  and  has  seen 
her  naked.  He  has  operated  on  her,  he  has  saved 
her  (both  symbolic  expressions  for  sexual  congress). 
Everything  occurred  in  respectable  fashion.  Her 
husband  was  present.  Her  bashfulness  was  not  vio- 
lated at  all.  Everything  occurred  during  narcosis.1 

One  of  the  following  dreams  (24)  brings  up  a 
similar  situation  under  neurotic  distortion. 

We  turn  our  attention  now  to  the  analysis  of  a 
beautiful,  so-called  political  dream. 

The  dream  is  a  very  lively  one  and  permits  a 
clear  insight  into  the  most  common  forms  of  dream 
symbolism. 

The  dream  of  the  (Rathaus)  Assembly  House: 

(22)  Great  uproar  in  the  Assembly  House.  The 
Emperor  is  also  present.  Thousands  of  people  be- 
low, awaiting  the  Emperor's  departure.  It  is  eve- 
ning and  the  Assembly  House  square  is  feerically  il- 
lumined for  the  occasion.  Three  figures  stand 
watch  in  front  of  the  main  entrance.  In  the  middle 
stands  a  gigantic  figure  dressed  as  the  iron  man,  a 
blinding  white  light  emanating  from  him.  At  the 
right  and  at  the  left  each  a  figure  similarly  clad  in 
golden  attire.  These  two  are  very  quiet,  almost 
motionless,  but  the  iron  man  is  nervous,  he  is  im- 
patient for  the  moment  to  arrive  when  he  should 

1 1  have  known  for  a  long  time  that  the  post-narcotic  neuroses 
and  psychoses  are  traceable  back  to  such  unconscious  phanta- 
sies involving  violence.  Cf.  similar  example  in  my  Nervost 
Angstzustiinde,,  p.  96. 


Assembly  House  Dream  83 

cry  out  to  the  assembled  populace,  the  Emperor  is 
coming! — The  people  have  been  waitmg  for  hours. 
I  and  a  -few  others, — were  lucky  enough  to  be  ad- 
mitted within.  We  shall  see  the  Emperor  at  close 
range, — the  thought  causes  my  heart  to  beat  fast. 
I  become  very  nervous  and  I  run  breathlessly  up  and 
down  the  steps.  I  am  a  prey  of  undescribable  ex- 
citement; suddenly  I  hear  a  tremendous  noise  rising 
outside,  like  the  roar  of  an  oceantide  breaking 
against  the  wonderful  building  and  echoing  within. 
Scared,  I  ask  the  servant  what  happened.  He  says: 
"The  three  at  the  door  got  tired  waiting  and  left 
their  post  swearing  at  the  Assembly  House,  the  peo- 
ple became  more  impatient  than  ever  at  that,  hence 
their  outcries"  At  that  moment  the  haU  doors  are 
thrown  open,  an  ocean  of  light  assaults  my  eyes.  I 
see  the  burgomaster  (mayor)  with  the  great  golden 
chain  and  the  red  colored  order  ribbons  hurrying 
down  the  steps;  he  passes  very  close  to  me,  so  that 
I  can  almost  feel  his  breath;  he  draws  me  along,  I 
run  after  him,  the  great  door  of  the  hall  springs 
ajar,  as  if  opened  by  magic  hands.  The  burgomas- 
ter calls  excitedly:  "Where  is  the  Emperor?"  He 
is  told  the  Emperor  had  left  the  Assembly  House 
through  a  side  door  and  was  being  carried  along 
the  Burg  theater  (Municipal  Theater  Building). 
I  see  very  clearly  the  carriage  disappearing  in  the 
midst  of  the  crowd.  But  no  sound  is  now  heard  .  .  . 
then  I  awake. 


84  Sex  and  Dreams 

The  dream  of  a  poet,  full  of  dramatic  incidents, 
of  plastic  imageries,  and  apparently  dealing  with 
political  conditions.  It  was  dreamed  by  a  young 
man  who  expects  to  marry  a  poor  girl.  His  parents 
are  against  it.  His  father  (the  Emperor)  is  now 
helpless  and  dependent  upon  him  for  support.  On 
the  evening  before  the  dream  he  kept  reflecting  for 
a  long  time  how  he  might  extricate  himself  from 
the  unpleasant  situation.  The  dream  has  shown 
him  a  solution.  In  the  girPs  house  wo  er  sich  gut 
beraten  wahnt  (Rathaus)  where  he  considers  himself 
well  counseled,  a  great  reception  is  being  held.  The 
analysis  brings  up  by  association  a  dance,  a  mar- 
riage ceremony.  He  is  getting  married  (Emp- 
fangniss,  reception).  But  the  father  (Emperor) 
must  first  leave  (abfahren,  sterben,  die)  then  the 
stumblingblock  will  be  out  of  the  way.  A  death 
wish  against  the  father.  The  tremendous  mass  of 
people,  the  contrary  circumstances.  Three  guard- 
ians are  watching  before  at  the  Assembly  House. 
The  iron  man  is  again  the  father  (uberlebensgrosse, 
unnaturally  big)  who  in  spite  of  his  vigor  earns  noth- 
ing. Hence  the  vigor.  The  blinding  white  light 
which  emanates  from  him  is  a  scornful  reference  to 
his  bald  pate  and  his  limited,  homely,  philistine  in- 
tellect. The  quiet  figure  in  golden  accouterments  is 
his  precious,  dear  mother  (also  doubled)  who  does 
not  reproach  him;  the  iron  man  (iron  constitution) 
is  nervous  and  always  plays  the  role  of  the  house 


Assembly  House  Dream  85 

tyrant:  the  Emperor  is  coming!  This  remarkable 
dream  structure  carries  out  further  the  feelings  in 
the  breast  of  the  young  man;  the  father  must  give 
the  deciding  word,  the  circumstances  speak  loudly 
their  unfavorable  tone.  The  father  has  lost  his  po- 
sition as  employee  (the  watchmen  at  the  gate  aban- 
don their  post),  that  is  why  the  circumstances  have 
become  unbearable.  Now  comes  the  wish  fulfillment 
in  glorious  form.  An  ocean  of  light  blinds  his  eyes. 
The  burgomaster  (mayor)  is  his  sweetheart,  the 
mistress  of  his  heart,  the  golden  chain,  the  marriage 
tie,  and  the  red  order  insignia — these,  analysis  finds 
to  stand  for  blood.  How  does  he  describe  the  power 
of  attraction  which  the  btloved  exercises  over  him? 
"I  almost  feel  his  (her)  breath,  he  (she)  drags  me 
along,  I  follow  him  (her),  all  obstacles  are  over- 
come, the  gate  door  of  the  great  house  springs  ajar 
as  if  opened  by  magic  hands."  The  Emperor  is 
carried  across  the  Municipal  Theater.  On  that 
square  he  saw  a  few  days  ago  a  great  funeral  pro- 
cession. The  Municipal  Theater  as  symbol  for  the 
parental  home  is  now  conquered  region.  Emperor 
and  Burg  theater,  both  are  overcome. 

He  was  tremendously  excited  in  the  dream.  But 
in  ordinary  life  Emperor  and  Burgomaster  do  not 
affect  him.  Only  because  here  they  are  symbols, 
because  the  Emperor  represents  his  greatest  obstacle 
and  the  burgomaster  symbolizes  his  most  cherished 
ideal,  his  beloved,  are  these  dream  thoughts  linked 


86  Sex  and  Dreams 

to  such  tremendous  affects.  Very  interesting  is  the 
observation:  The  burgomaster  calls  out  excitedly: 
where  is  the  Emperor?  That  is  the  very  climax  of 
the  little  drama  which  is  portrayed  before  us,  the 
great  scene  between  the  father  and  the  beloved. 
Naturally  she  is  the  one  who  comes  out  victorious. 

But  any  one  who  thinks  this  analysis  is  at  all 
exhaustive  is  badly  mistaken.  The  dream  shows  us 
the  problem  of  his  love  affair.  He  has  carried  out 
an  identification  of  his  mother  with  the  beloved. 
The  Assembly  House  stands  for  the  mother  as  well 
as  for  the  bride;  it  signifies  the  beloved  mother,  or 
the  beloved,  who  shall  be  the  mother  of  his  children. 
The  mother  receives  the  father  (Emperor) — nat- 
urally evening.  The  mass  of  people  signify  the  re- 
bellious wishes,  the  numberless  evil  thoughts,  and 
for  that  reason,  naturally,  by  way  of  contrast,  a  se- 
cret. The  three  figures  on  guard,  symbolize,  like 
most  trinities,  the  penis  and  pair  of  testicles.  Here 
the  penis  is  the  "iron  man"  with  the  lance;  the  tes- 
ticles (egg-yellow)  are  characterized  by  golden  gar- 
ments.2 One  on  the  right,  the  other,  on  the  left. 
It  is  an  old  dream  symbolism  that  the  father  means 
also  the  generating  one,  that  is,  the  penis.  The  tes- 
ticles are  naturally  immovable,  quiet,  only  the  penis 
is  impatient  for  the  "arrival." 

7  and  a  few  others — we  are  lucky  to  be  allowed 

"The  "golden  balls"  as  testicles:  Anthropophyteia,  vol.  II., 
p.  142. 


Assembly  House  Dream  87 

to  get  in.3  Naturally,  he  was  within  the  maternal 
body.  The  past  becomes  the  present.  (This 
theme, — maternal  body  phantasies — will  preoccupy 
us  at  different  times  in  the  course  of  our  present 
study.) 

The  wishes  become  progressively  more  pressing. 
Another's  three — become  his  trinity.4  The  Em- 
peror leaves  through  a  side  door  (that  is,  he  dies, 
his  carriage  disappears  in  the  crowd).  The  situa- 
tion resembles  more  closely  the  act  of  coitus  (up 
and  down  the  steps) — and  the  dreamer  wakes  up. 

The  birth  phantasy  naturally  commingles  with 
the  defloration  phantasy.  He  does  not  want  to  wait 
so  long.  The  iron  man  is  impatient. 

Another  picture: 

The  Dream  of  the  Unbridled  Life: 

(23)  I  am  in  a  street  car  which  is  bound  for  the 
Franz-Joseph  Station.  One  horse  is  harnessed  with 
a  bridle  of  thin  rope.  The  rope  breaks. 

This  dream  I  dreamed  in  the  fall  after  the  return 
of  my  wife  through  the  Franz-Joseph  Station  from 
a  Summer  vacation.  A  clear  wish  fulfillment,  to  con- 
tinue the  care-free  existence  of  a  "grass"  widower 

•There  are  three  children  in  the  family. 

4  Interesting  material  on  symbolism  is  found  in  the  work  en- 
titled, Ancient,  Pagan  and  Modern  Christian  Symbolism,  by 
Thomas  Jnman,  M.D.  (2d  ed.,  New  York,  Peter  Ecker,  Pub- 
lisher). According  to  this  author  the  cross  represents  the 
union  of  4  phalli,  it  is  of  Phoenician  origin  and  has  nothing  to 
do  with  the  essence  of  Christianity.  In  the  beginning  the  cross 
represented  the  fusion  of  trinity  and  unity.  It  is  a  symbol 
commonly  met  in  Egyptian  art. 


88  Sex  cmd  Dreams 

(expressed  in  one  of  the  slang  popular  songs  of  a 
few  years  ago,  in  the  sentiment :  "My  wife  has  gone 
to  the  Country,  hurrah,  hurrah!")  obviously  the 
welling  up  of  an  unconscious  thought.  In  reality 
I  was  happy  for  my  wife  to  take  again  the  house- 
hold affairs  in  hand  so  that  I  could  live  once  more 
under  orderly  conditions.  I  had  not  taken  advan- 
tage of  my  supposed  state  of  freedom.  But  the  se- 
cret wish  must  have  been  there,  nevertheless. 

Of  course,  I  am  the  draft  horse.  That  is  a  com- 
mon symbol  for  the  husband,  in  contrast  with  the 
woman  who  is  represented  preferably  as  the  guard- 
ian. The  ties  which  bind  me  to  carriage  are  rep- 
resented in  this  dream  as  being  very  weak.  The 
rope  breaks  (double  meaning:  the  horse,  that  is,  the 
flighty-minded  fellow  breaks  away).  The  death 
wish  also  shows  itself  in  the  dream  thoughts.  The 
Farces  cut  the  thread  of  life.5  The  thread  of  life 
breaks  off. 

The  infantile  layer  is  represented  through  the 
Franz- Joseph  Station  idea  (Emperor  Franz  Joseph 
— father).  I  return  again  to  the  realm  of  youth, 
I  return  to  mother  and  .  .  .  leave  my  wife. 

•The  "life  thread"  in  the  folk  thought  represents  also  the 
penis:  Anthropophyteia,  vol.  II,  p.  112.  The  guilty  conscience 
on  account  of  shortening  one's  life  thread  or  span  of  existence 
through  masturbation  (drawing  off  the  life  thread)  is  also  a 
latent  dream  thought.  Self-reproaches  on  account  of  infantile 
onanism  play  a  great  r61e  in  the  neuroses  and,  like  death 
thoughts,  are  found  in  most  dreams  in  caricatured  forms  diffi- 
cult to  unravel. 


Infantile  Substratum  89 

We  have  seen  that  the  dream  fulfills  our  secret 
wishes  or  ...  reveals  our  secret  fears.  Fears 
and  wishes  are  sisters.  There  is  no  fear  represented 
in  dreams  which  was  not  once  a  wish.  In  my  work, 
Nervose  Angst  zustdnde,  I  have  proven  in  connection 
with  a  large  number  of  anxiety  dreams,  that  the 
cryptic  wish  of  neurotics  appears  in  dream  as  fear 
or  anxiety. 

I  want  to  close  this  chapter  with  a  short  but  in- 
structive dream  which  illustrates  in  very  clear  man- 
ner the  bearing  on  anxiety. 

A  man,  about  thirty  years  of  age,  suffers  of  a  seri- 
ous perversion.  He  craves  contact  only  with  chil- 
dren below  ten  years  of  age.  He  has  fought  against 
this  weakness  with  energy  and  successfully.  He 
knew  how  to  control  the  beast  in  himself.  One  of 
his  favorite  fancies  was  to  think  up  situations  in 
which  indulgence  in  his  particular  perversion  would 
not  seem  a  sinful  act.  For  instance,  suppose  a 
highwayman  should  force  him  to  it  .  .  .  He  would 
not  be  responsible  and  would  stand  exculpated  be- 
fore human  and  divine  law  alike  on  the  score  of  vis 
major  (coercion). 

This  man  dreams: 

(24)  I  am  followed  in  the  open  field  by  a  tramp, 
a  very  powerful  fellow.  He  has  with  him  a  small 
girl.  I  was  afraid  he  might  force  me  to  have  sexual 
intercourse  with  the  girl,  but  I  thought  to  myself: 
I  should  not  really  let  that  weigh  very  heavily  on  my 


90  Sex  and  Dreams 

conscience  this  time.  I  ran  off  and  came  across  some 
people  so  that  I  was  saved. 

The  dreamer,  thus,  is  ready  to  carry  out  a  sinful 
act  under  circumstances  which  would  absolve  him 
from  responsibility.  He  looks  for  the  force  majeure 
of  fate,  in  the  form  of  a  Pulcher  (Viennese  expres- 
sion for  "Strolch").  But  even  this  old  wish  has  now 
turned  into  fear  on  account  of  inhibitions.6 

This  dream  shows  the  transference  of  a  waking 
phantasy  to  the  dream  life.  It  illustrates  a  strange 
borderland  wherein  wish  and  fear  commingle  in  a 
single  affect. 

Cf.  the  case  of  a  Rabbi  in,  Nervose  Angstzustdnde,  p.  165. 


IV 


SYMBOLISM   OF   THE    SINKING    TREE REPRESENTATION 

OF    MOTHER   EARTH THE    FEAR    OF    SELF 


Turchterlich  tief  leuchtet  der  Traum  vn  den  in 
IMS  gebauten  Epikurs — und  Augiasstall  hmein,  und 
wir  sehen  in  der  Nacht  aUe  die  wilden  Grabtiere  und 
Abendwolfe  ledig  wmherstrevfen,  die  am,  Tage  die 
Vernunft  auf  die  Kette  hielt. 

[The  dream  penetrates  to  gruesome  depths  mto 
our  Epicurean  nature,  it  lights  up  the  Augean  stable 
within  us  and  at  night  we  see,  freely  prowling 
around,  the  wild  beasts,  the  ferocious  wolves  which 
reason  keeps  enchained  during  the  day.] 

Jean  Paul 


IV 


The  examples  chosen  from  the  Bible  and  from 
Artemidoros  as  well  as  various  other  dreams  have 
shown  us  that  symbolism  furnishes  the  key  to  dream 
interpretation.  One  would  think  therefore  that  an 
accurate  knowledge  of  dream  symbols  is  all  that  is 
necessary  to  enable  one  to  clear  up  the  meaning  of 
any  dream.  But  the  matter  is  not  so  simple.  Now 
and  then  it  may  be  possible  to  recognize  the  content 
of  a  dream  merely  by  a  superficial  survey  of  its 
imagery.  But  only  now  and  then.  Generally  it 
cannot  be  done.  And  even  if  a  certain  meaning  has 
been  recognized  what  is  its  value?  Every  dream 
has  multiple  meanings.  The  dream  is  distorted 
through  various  mechanisms,  with  some  of  which  we 
have  already  become  familiar,  while  others  we  will 
learn  to  know  later.  According  to  Freud  we  must 
distinguish  two  categories  of  data:  the  manifest 
dream  content  and  the  latent  dream  content.  In 
many  cases  the  latent  content  cannot  be  recognized 
without  the  aid  of  the  dreamer.  For  the  symbols 
have  only  conditionally  a  fixed  meaning.  And  any- 
thing may  serve  as  a  symbol.  Also,  the  symbolism 
varies  with  different  persons.  A  violin  player  uses 

93 


94  Sex  and  Dreams 

a  different  symbolic  language  than  a  grocer.  Every 
one  draws  his  symbolisms  from  his  own  sphere  of 
knowledge.  In  dream,  the  father,  for  instance,  is 
always  represented  as  an  authority, — and  so  most 
persons  think  of  him  as  the  Kaiser,  the  chorus 
singer  in  the  opera  as  the  conductor,  the  perpetual 
student  as  the  teacher,  the  politician  as  the  chair- 
man, the  peasant  as  the  government  official,  the 
tramp  as  the  officer,  the  Viennese  "Spieser"  as  the 
Mayor,  the  "religious  gentleman"  as  the  Pope,  al- 
though others,  too,  may  represent  the  father 
through  the  Pope  (papa). 

I  have  anticipatively  made  this  point  so  as  to 
guard  against  a  one  sided  overvaluation  of  the 
dream  symbols.  Now  we  turn  to  an  apparently 
easy,  simple  analysis  of  a  dream: 

Mrs.  Delta  dreams : 

(25)  I  was  in  an  open  quadrangular  space  (it  was 
not  an  enclosure) — a  garden?  or  a  Court? — A  tree 
at  one  end,  slowly  disappeared  before  our  eyes,  as  if 
gradually  sinking  into  water.  I  was  clever  enough  to 
notice  that  tree  and  Court  alike  also  underwent  a 
shaking  motion:  "Here  we  see  how  the  changes  upon 
the  earth  surface  are  brought  about" 

This  dream  was  followed  by  another,  forgotten 
dream  picture,  which  ended  with  a  light  anxiety 
feeling. 

We  see  that  the  dream  represents  in  fact,  the 
occurrence  of  an  earthquake.  Recollections  of  the 


Earthquake  Dream  95 

terrible  catastrophe  of  Messina  have  had  something 
to  do  with  the  excitation  of  the  dream  picture  (re- 
cent factor — uppermost  dream  layer).  On  that 
occasion  a  village  disappeared  almost  completely 
during  the  earthquake,  in  places  the  coast  lines  were 
altered.  The  dreamer  had  also  read  a  few  days 
before  a  novel  by  Ganghofer,  entitled  "Der  Lauf- 
ende  Berg"  (The  Moving  Mountain),  which  de- 
scribed how  a  hut  sank  deeper  and  deeper  into  the 
ground.  We  thus  have,  apparently,  a  simple  re- 
production of  a  newspaper  account  and  of  a  scene 
described  in  a  story  and  the  fear  might  express  the 
fear  of  earthquakes  which  so  many  persons  showed 
when  the  Messina  and  San  Francisco  disasters  were 
in  the  public  eye. 

If  we  could  prove,  with  Swoboda,1  that  the 
woman  had  read  the  novel  twenty-eight  days  pre- 
viously, or  that  some  multiple  of  twenty-eight  days 
passed  since  she  read  about  the  earthquake  in  the 
newspapers,  we  might  quietly  maintain  that  the 
dream  was  merely  a  periodic  repetition  of  a  strong 
impression  received  some  time  before.  Admitting 
that  this  might  be  the  case — what  have  we  gained 
thereby  towards  the  understanding  of  the  dream? 

We  must  really  try  to  penetrate  more  deeply  into 
the  symbolism  of  the  dream.  The  woman  recalls 
that  during  an  earthquake  an  island  once  made  its 

1  Studien  zur  Orundlegung  der  Psychologic.  A  very  interest- 
ing work  in  which  the  proof  is  brought  forth  that  certain  im- 
pressions are  periodically  given  expression  in  the  dream. 


96  Sex  and  Dreams 

appearance  in  midocean,  in  other  words, — the  earth- 
quake gave  birth  to  it.  We  suspect  at  once  that 
the  theme  of  the  dream  revolves  around  the  bipolar 
contrast,  birth  and  death,  such  contrasts  being  fre- 
quently represented  in  dreams  through  the  same 
symbols.  Let  us  look  into  that.  Another  associa- 
tion of  ideas  bring  to  the  dreamer's  mind  the  last 
Vienna  earthquake.  On  that  occasion  a  satirical 
wit  played  a  joke  and  sent  to  the  daily  paper  a 
scientific  sounding  but  confusing  account  of  the 
occurrence  as  coming  from  a  specialist  and  ended 
his  conglomeration  with  the  remark:  Meine  Frau 
verspiirte  auch  einige  Stosse, — literally,  "My  wife, 
too,  felt  some  'shakings,'  "  but  the  newspaper  editor, 
of  course,  changed  that  to  "shakes."  We  are  now 
coming  a  little  closer  to  the  meaning  of  the  dream. 
A  big  tree  which  disappears,  shakings,  shakes, 
birth.  What  does  it  all  mean?  The  answer  is  not 
difficult. 

The  whole  dream  assumes  a  different  aspect.  It 
represents  an  infantile  scene  from  the  earliest  child- 
hood, when  the  woman  dreamer  had  observed  the 
act  of  coitus  between  the  parents.  She  had  but 
heard  the  rhythmic  motions  of  the  bed.  The  quad- 
rilateral space  was  the  bedroom  of  her  parents  and 
the  marital  bed,  which  is  also  quadrilateral.2  The 

*  In  this  sense  of  "vier-eckig,"  quadrangular,  four-cornered, 
table  stands  for  bed.  Note  the  expression:  .  .  .  "having  left 
.  .  .  bed  and  board";  in  German,  literally,  "table  and  bed" 
(Trennung  von  Tisch  und  Belt). 


Birth  Symbolism  97 

further  addition,  "it  was  not  a  closed  space — gar- 
den or  Court?"  serves  partly  as  dream  distortion, 
partly  as  over  determination,  a  means  of  fusing  room 
and  bed.  Just  as  two  negatives  result  in  an  affirma- 
tive, the  emphasis  here  (it  was  not  closed)  must  be 
looked  upon  as  an  affirmation.  Freud  very  properly 
states:  "There  is  no  negation  in  dream."  If  a 
dream  raises  the  positive  contention :  "My  wife  was 
not  there" — the  statement  means  the  exact  opposite, 
namely  that  the  presence  of  the  wife  was  painful  and 
has  to  be  covered  up  as  much  as  possible. 

We  have  here,  then,  the  representation  of  a  shak- 
ing motion  of  the  bed  (or  a  room).  What  has  that 
to  do  with  a  tree  sinking  into  water?  The  well- 
known  dream  symbolism  comes  to  our  aid  at  this 
point.  Water  always  stands  for  a  reference  to 
birth.3  Children  come  from  the  water, — that  is  the 
first  infantile  theory  of  sex.  Infants  before  birth 
float  in  water,  we  adults  learn.  And  the  tree? 
Whati  does  it  signify  other  than  the  life-bestowing 
principle,  the  penis?  Birth  and  death,  both  are 
represented  through  the  penis. 

The  mother  is  here  represented  as  the  earth, — as 
mother  earth.  Changes  in  the  "earth  surface"  is  a 
symbolic  reference  to  pregnancy  (swelling  of  the 
abdomen). 

Here  we  encounter  a  strange  problem:  the  prob- 

•A  subsequent  chapter  will  be  devoted  to  a  systematic  ac- 
count of  birth  dreams. 


98  Sex  and  Dreams 

lem  of  life  and  death  in  the  dream.  Is  it  not  re- 
markable that  contraries  should  carry  the  same 
meaning?  For  a  further  analysis  of  the  dream  re- 
veals that  it  is  a  symbolization  of  death.  We 
shall  revert  to  that  later. 

Here  I  want  merely  to  point  out  that  a  German 
scientist  has  studied  this  relationship  long  ago.  In 
the  peculiar,  somewhat  flowery  language  character- 
istic of  his  day,  Schubert  states :  * 

"What  we  find  in  the  language  of  dreams,  every 
tone  of  irony,  every  peculiar  association  of  ideas 
and  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  all  that  we  find  pre- 
eminently also  in  the  original  of  the  dream  world,  in 
nature.  In  fact,  nature  appears  to  be  in  concord- 
ance with  our  cryptic  poet  and  to  ridicule  with  him 
our  pathetic  joys  and  our  joyful  pathos,  as  when 
she  mocks  us  in  our  graves  at  one  time,  wails  in 
our  ear  when  we  are  in  the  marital  bed  at  another 
time,  thus  pairing  in  wonderful  fashion  pleasure 
and  pain,  joy  and  sadness, — like  that  nature  voice, 
the  air  music  of  Ceylon  which  sings  wonderfully  joy- 
ful menuets  in  tones  of  harrowing,  heartbreaking 
sadness.  It  is  love  time  and  joy  time  when  the  night- 
ingale's wailing  song  is  at  its  best,  lamenting  the 
rose  over  the  grave,  according  to  a  poetic  expres- 
sion, and  when  all  joyful  notes  in  Nature  have  a 
wailing  quality  and  reversely,  a  certain  ephemeral 
bird  is  said  always  to  celebrate  its  marriage  on  the 
grave,  on  the  day  of  its  death.  Death  and  marriage, 
marriage  and  death,  lie  so  closely  associated  in  na- 

Symbolism  of  Dreams,  Leipzig,  F.  A.  Brockhaus,  1840. 


SymboUzation  of  Opposites  99 

ture,  as  in  dreams,  often  the  one  seems  to  signify  the 
other,  to  conjure  up  or  to  imply  the  presence  of  the 
other;  in  nature's  language  they  usually  appear  as 
ideas  of  equal  weight,  either  of  which  may,  on  occa- 
sion, replace  the  other.  As  already  observed  else- 
where, the  creation  and  the  last  dissolution  of  our 
bodies  are  processes  everywhere  in  nature  inti- 
mately related  and  identical  with  reference  to  the  sub- 
stances and  changes  involved;  phosphorus  is  morn- 
ing and  evening  star?  alike,  marriage  and  death 
candle  at  the  same  time,  and  while  a  portion  of  the 
continuously  revolving  cycle  of  metabolic  processes 
is  engaged  in  building  up,  another  portion  is  en- 
gaged in  tearing  down.  Pain  and  pleasure,  pleasure 
and  pain,  are  similarly  related;  the  child  of  joy  is 
born  in  pain;  with  the  highest  degree  of  sensory 
dysphoria  and  torture,  even  in  the  midst  of  fainting 
and  apparent  death,  comes  the  supreme  pleasure; 
reversely,  too,  sensory  pleasure  is  a  messenger  of 
pain. 

"That  strange  association  seems  not  to  have  es- 
caped the  attention  of  the  prehistoric  race  which 
has  raised  the  phallus,  or  its  colossal  symbol,  the 
pyramid,  to  mark  the  grave,  and  has  celebrated  the 
death  divinity  with  ceremonials  around  the  phallus ; 
as  if  every  act  of  a  sensuous  character  contained 
also  the  raw  indication  of  a  deeper  understanding. 
In  the  midst  of  the  death  ceremonials  and  mourning 
wails  of  the  ancient  mysteries  there  resounded  also, 
as  in  some  Shakespearian  tragedy,  the  laughter  over 
Baubo  and  Jacchus;  back  of  the  largely  comical 
and  joyful  festivities  there  was  often  discernible  a 
very  earnest  and  tragic  note"  (Loc.  cit.,  p.  38). 


100  Sex  and  Dreams 

We  must  look  in  our  dream,  too,  for  a  deeper 
meaning.     We  discover  a  further  sense  to  it:  the 
dream  is  a  death  phantasy.     She  lies  in  the  grave. 
A  planted  tree,  such  as  she  has  seen  in  cemeteries, 
here  sinks  gradually  into  the  earth.     The  four-cor- 
nered place  in  which  she  lies  is  the  grave.5 
As  the  earth  spirit  announces  in  Faust: 
Geburt  und  Grab, 
Em  ewiges  Meer, 
Ein  wechselnd  Weben, 
Em  gluhend  Leben. 

She  thus  lies  in  the  closed  grave,  in  the  cemetery, 
where  flowers  bloom  (garden)  and  memorial  trees 
are  planted  eventually  to  disappear. 

On  the  great  judgment  day  the  graves  open  up 
and  the  dead  awaken.  Woe!  How  has  she  spent 
her  life?  Was  it  not  a  chain  of  sinful  thoughts? 
Here  we  see  the  deep  feeling  of  guilt,  which  must 
break  forth  at  the  end  of  the  dream  in  the  form  of 
anxiety. 

That  does  not  yet  exhaust  the  meaning  of  the 
dream.  The  most  important  feature  is  yet  to  be 
revealed.  The  fear  at  the  end  (anxiety)  shows  sup- 

S"A  woman  dreams  of  going  to  visit  a  lady  of  her  acquain- 
tance who  was  really  on  her  death  bed  at  the  time,  following 
a  prolonged  illness;  upon  her  arrival  she  is  not  a  little  sur- 
prised to  find  the  woman  in  childbirth,  a  thing  she  cannot 
understand  considering  the  sick  woman's  advanced  age  and 
her  grown  up  son  who  was  standing  nearby.  Here  the  incident 
of  lying  bedridden  furnishes  the  associative  link  between  child- 
birth and  dying."  (Das  Leben  des  Traumes,  by  Karl  Albert 
Scherner,  Berlin.  Verl.  Heinr.  Schindler,  1861,  p.  147.) 


Fear  101 

pressed  sexuality;  it  reveals  wishes  which  being  un- 
reachable,  unfulfillable,  and  unsocial  turn  into 
anxiety.  We  discover  that  her  husband,  fearing  the 
care  and  responsibility  of  children,  has  practiced 
for  years  coitus  interruptus.  That  fear  of  preg- 
nancy shows  itself  also  in  the  dream  picture.  Also 
the  fear  that  her  husband,  who  is  in  fact  a  healthy 
and  powerful  man,  may  die  suddenly,  or  prove  un- 
true, etc.6 

Here  an  association  of  ideas  leads  to  the  most  im- 
portant of  the  dream  thoughts.  She  has  a  single 
child,  a  son,  who  is  to  marry  during  the  next  few 
months.  On  the  evening  before  the  dream  her  future 
daughter-in-law  came  to  her  and  they  planned  the 
necessary  bridal  outfit.  They  inspected  various  waist 
models  and  the  girl  favored  a  shirt  which  buttons  in 
front,  saying:  "That  is  very  convenient.  If  I 
should  have  to  nurse,  I  could  use  just  that  kind  of 
a  waist."  She  was  surprised  at  the  freedom  with 
which  the  modern  girl  speaks  of  such  things.  As  a 
girl  she  was  entirely  different.  .  .  .  She  felt  a  mo- 
mentary wave  of  aversion  for  the  glowing,  young, 
healthy  girl  who  had  robbed  her  of  her  son's 
heart. 

Now  we  understand  the  third  significance  of  the 
dream.  The  tree  disappearing  in  the  ground  is 

•The  fear  the  man  may  die  expresses  her  cryptic  wish.  The 
man  is  a  prisoner  and  must  not  leave  her  for  a  moment  alone. 
We  can  understand  the  motive:  he  must  not  go  from  her,  that 
is,  die. 


102  Sex  and  Dreams 

her  son.7  She  sees  him  during  the  bridal  night  (in 
her  spirit),  she  sees  anticipatively  her  daughter-in- 
law's  pregnancy.  She  is  jealous  and  that  jealousy 
causes  her  keen  suffering.  The  little  son,  whose 
nurse  she  had  been,  in  the  dream  is  often  repre- 
sented as  the  penis.  Here  he  symbolizes  both.  The 
dream  means,  therefore:  I  foresee  the  end  of  my 
love!  My  son  will  marry  soon.  He  will  gradually 
wean  himself  away  from  me.  I  mean  less  and  less 
to  him.  He  is  becoming  entirely  absorbed  in  his 
love  (the  sinking  tree).  He  will  render  his  wife 
pregnant,  he  will  be  a  father.  That  is  how  times 
bring  on  changes. 

It  would  be  very  interesting  to  find  out  what  the 
continuation  of  the  dream  indicates.  How  she  frees 
herself  of  these  difficulties.  That,  of  course,  is  the 
chief  theme  of  the  dream  and  therefore  it  is  com- 
pletely hidden  from  view. 

But  from  analogy  with  similar  previous  dreams 
of  this  patient — we  are  dealing  with  such  a  one — 
we  may  infer  that  the  missing  part  deals  with  the 
death  of  the  young  rival.  Such  a  rival  once  died 
off — that  was  four  years  ago — and  because  of  the 
reproaches  which  she  felt  unconsciously  over  it, 
her  neurosis  developed.  Now  her  phantasies  play 
with  the  same  thought  and  the  feeling  of  guilt 
reacts  with  the  expatiation  of  anxiety. 

'She  "planted"  it,  raised  it,  took  care  of  it.    The  tree,  l.e., 
son,  must  be  her  support. 


Fear  of  Self  103 

The  anxiety  in  the  last  analysis  is  fear  of  self.6 

The  most  important  thought,  in  this  connection, 
is  the  one  most  deeply  hidden.  It  is  the  thought  of 
death.  Rather  than  not  begrudge  her  own  beloved 
son  to  her  future  daughter-in-law,  she  would  see  him 
dead.  He  should  die,  he  should  be  out  of  the  way. 
A  grave  is  dug  and  a  body  is  laid  in.  That  is  for 
her  the  most  important  change  in  the  earth  surface. 

Such  evil  thoughts  encounter  inhibition  and  be- 
come expressed  as  anxiety.  For  she  truly  loves  her 
son.  She  does  not  want  to  lose  him. 

In  every  dream  the  thought  of  death  is  also 
woven  in. 

There  is  no  dream  which  does  not  contain  an 
adumbration  of  death. 

Our  woman  patient  lives  only  with  the  dead.  She 
is  rich  in  spirits  (play  of  words,  a  pun  on:  geist- 
reich,  spiritual). 

Further  associations  of  this  dream  lead  to 
thoughts  of  masturbation  (shaking  motions)  and 
bisexuality.9  But  it  might  confuse  the  reader  to  go 
on.  The  dream  has  already  become  complicated. 
But  there  are  no  simple  dreams. 

'  Cf.  the  words  of  Richard  III  about  the  terrible  dream  be- 
fore the  battle. 

•The  so-called  "maternal  body  phantasy,"  i.e.,  the  illusion  of 
being  within  the  body  (coffin)  of  the  mother  and  of  watching 
the  details  of  marital  experience,  too,  comes  here  to  surface. 
She  is  afraid  of  "being  buried  alive." 


DREAM      MASKS PUESUIT      DREAMS THE      POLITICAL 

DREAM        ABOUT        BISMARCK THE        WONDERFUL 

VILLA THE     DREAM    ABOUT    THE     BAKER CON- 
TRARY    MEANING     OF     ABORIGINAL     WORDS THE 

PSYCHOLOGY    OF    THE    DON    JUAN    TYPE SAVINGS 

BANKBOOK       AND       LOVE EVIL       THOUGHTS       OF 

CHILDHOOD THE   SKILLFUL  FENCER THE  DARK 

MAN,  A   SYMBOL   FOR  DEATH 


Glaubt  mir,  des  Menschen  wahrster  Wahn 
Wird  ihm  im  Trawme  aufgetan. 

[Believe  me,  man  sees  his  wildest  fancy  come  true, 
in  his  dreams.] 

Richard  Wagner 


Numerous  examples  have  shown  us  that  the  dream 
speaks  a  symbolic  language  and  that  the  unraveling 
of  the  symbols  yields  a  partial  explanation  of  the 
dream.  I  must  underscore  again,  a  partial  explana- 
tion only,  because  in  addition  to  the  symbolism  va- 
rious processes  involved  in  the  dream  distortion  play 
a  role  to  which  I  must  next  call  attention. 

One  of  the  most  important  forms  of  dream  dis- 
tortion is  the  transposition  into  the  antithetical. 
The  oldest  dream  interpreters  were  already  aware 
of  that  process  and  the  popular  mind  has  also  per- 
ceived the  truth.  If  one  dreamed  of  death,  the 
Egyptian  dream  book  explained  it  as  meaning  birth ; 
if  one  met  great  misfortune  in  dreams  the  ancient 
interpreters  took  that  to  mean  the  presaging  of 
good  luck.  These  popular  attempts  at  interpreta- 
tion have  been  treated  with  ridicule  by  some  of  our 
scientists ;  but  it  appears,  as  Freud  rightly  remarks, 
that  the  folk  mind  was  nearer  the  truth  in  these 
matters  than  the  learned  scientist.  Many  dreams 
may  be  interpreted  as  signifying  an  antithetical 
transposition  of  material.  "Excrement  means  gold. 
Gold  and  excrement  are  antithetical,  that  is  why  the 

107 


108  Sex  and  Dreams 

devil's  gold  turns  into  excrement.  But  is  it  a  peculi- 
arity of  dreams  to  represent  objects  by  their  con- 
traries. Thus,  it  means  illness  when  one  is  in  full 
dress,  quarrel  when  one  makes  love,  and  keen  sensu- 
ous pleasure  in  dreams  not  infrequently  is  a  fore- 
runner of  actual  pain :  vae  tibi  ridenti,  quia  mox  post 
gaudia  flebis."  (Kleinpaid,  Sprache  ohne  Worte.) 

I  record  now  the  most  instructive  example  that 
has  come  to  my  attention.  A  woman  said  to  me: 
"Dreams  are  nonsense !"  For  the  fourth  time  I  have 
had  the  following  ridiculous  dream: 

(27 )  A  little,  old,  ugly  woman  chases  me  around 
the  table;  I  am  afraid  and  wake  up  with  fear. 

The  meaning  is  very  simple.  If  we  translate  the 
little  old  ugly  woman  into  the  opposite  we  find  that 
in  the  dream  she  is  being  pursued  around  the  table 
by  a  big,  attractive  young  man,  an  experience 
which  corresponds  to  a  wish  on  the  part  of  this 
attractive  woman  who  is  married  to  a  very  weak, 
delicate  man,  and  a  wish  which  through  repression 
(on  account  of  its  "forbidden"  character)  is  turned 
into  a  fear.  The  continuation  of  the  dream  is  re- 
called by  the  woman  only  after  my  interpretation 
and  corroborates  the  interpretation.  The  alleged 
old  woman  in  the  dream  tears  off  the  subject's 
blouse  and  wants  to  stick  her  hand  between  the 
breasts  a  procedure  wholly  illogical  on  the  part  of 
an  old  woman  but  perfectly  intelligible  on  the  part 
of  a  young  man  in  the  same  situation,  which  really 


Dream  Distortion  109 

depicts  a  rape  phantasy.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is 
also  conceivable  that  the  picture  represents  a  re- 
verse act,  that  she  struggles  with  a  wish  to  run  after 
a  big  man;  but  the  end  seems  to  make  that  illogical. 
Why  should  she  want  to  tear  open  the  man's  waist- 
coat? Here  we  learn  another  dream  process,  the 
so-called  transposition  from  below.  In  many 
dreams  what  takes  place  below  is  represented  above 
and  reversely.  That  is  an  extraordinarily  common 
form  of  dream  distortion,  a  process  which,  more- 
over, plays  also  a  tremendous  role  in  the  symptomat- 
ology of  the  neuroses.  Applying  the  principle  of 
transposition  from  below  above  we  arrive  at  the 
wish  to  act  aggressively  and  tear  apart  a  man's 
trousers.  Both  interpretations,  the  aggressive  and 
the  defensive,  fit  into  one  another  very  well;  for 
there  is  no  sadist  who  is  not  also  a  masochist,  no 
exhibitionist  who  is  not  a  voyeur  at  the  same  time. 
"All  instincts  appear  in  pairs."  1  Thus  nature  her- 
self upholds  the  law  of  opposites.  The  dream  must 
bear  a  meaning  also  in  a  positive  sense.  She  fears 
the  mother.  She  has  homosexual  leanings  and 
wishes  the  assault  which,  moreover,  signifies  a  ques- 
tion about  her  motherhood. 

1  Alfred  Adler,  Der  Aggressionstrieb  im  Leben  und  in  der 
Neurose,  Fortschritte  der  Medi/in,  1908,  No.  19:  "In  the  healthy, 
the  perverse,  and  the  neurotics,  alike,  the  motive  power  is 
generated  by  two  originally  disparate  instincts  which  are  later 
drawn  together  and,  as  a  consequence,  the  sadistic-masochistic 
manifestation  corresponds,  alike,  to  two  instincts, — the  sexual 
instinct  and  the  instinct  of  aggression  (Aggressionstrieb)" 


110  Sex  and  Dreams 

For  the  woman  is  sterile.  She  will  never  have  milk 
in  her  breast.  And  now  we  arrive  at  the  most  signifi- 
cant meaning.  She  wishes  to  be  again  with  the 
mjother  and  lie  at  the  nurse's  breast.  The  grip  on 
the  breasts  is  the  first  pleasurable  contact  of  infancy. 

The  dream  thus  plays  upon  various  motives. 
More  than  that!  The  old  -woman  who  seizes  her  at 
the  heart  is  the  symbol  of  death.  An  ancient  sym- 
bol. Every  fear  is  also  a  fear  of  death.  In  fact,  in 
roundabout  ways, — always  the  fear  of  death! 

Thus  we  see  an  interplay  of  the  yearning  for  life 
and  the  fear  of  death,  the  fear  of  living  and  the 
yearning  after  death,  commingled. 

Moreover,  these  forms  of  dream  distortion  are 
supported  by  linguistic  characteristics. 

Linguists  have  pointed  out  that  in  man's  abo- 
riginal language  many  words  had  double  meaning, 
signifying  one  concept  and  at  the  same  time  the 
exact  opposite. 

This  feature  of  language  was  known  already  to 
Schubert,  who  in  his  Symbolik  des  Traumes  (Sym- 
bolism of  Dream)  maintains: 

"Recent,  more  penetrating  linguistic  investiga- 
tions has  proven  everywhere  the  prevalence  of  inter- 
changeable terms  in  the  articulated  language  and 
the  kinship  of  words.  First  we  frequently  find  that 
words  having  contrary  meanings  originate  from  the 
same  root;  as  if,  in  expressing  itself,  the  soul  em- 
phasized the  inner  organic  double  sense,  rather  than 


Life  and  Death  111 

some  external  particularized  manifestation  thereof. 
.  .  .  Words  designating  warm  and  cold  are  not 
only  similarly  sounding  in  some  modern  languages: 
for  instance,  Italian  caldo,  English  cold,  and  Ger- 
man kalt,  meaning  the  opposite ;  but  within  the  realm 
of  the  same  language  we  find  words  for  warm  and 
for  cold  derived  from  the  same  root  (gelu,  gelidus, 
cold;  and  caelo,  calidus,  warm);  and  the  God  of 
the  tropical  South  has  descended  from  the  cold 
North.  Just  as  frequently  in  myth  and  lan- 
guage the  good  divinity  is  fused  with  the  evil  one 
and  reversely,  the  evil  divinity  is  taken  for  good,  so 
in  Persian,  although  the  corresponding  myth  makes 
a  strong  division  between  the  two  principles,  the 
name  of  the  evil  Ahriman  and  that  of  the  god  of 
light,  Orim-Asdes,  both  come  from  the  same  root;  so 
also  gpos  (eros),  love,  and  epis  (eris,  quarrel;  and 
in  various  other  languages  the  words  for  unity  and 
union  and  enemy  and  division  are  the  same.  (Swe- 
denborg  elaborated  a  theory  that  sensuous  love  gen- 
erates in  heaven  the  crassest  hatred.)  Light,  too, 
the  symbol  of  truth,  and  falsehood,  or  lying,  in 
some  languages  are  derived  from  the  same  root,  be- 
cause light  (the  beautiful  morning  star,  as  it  is 
called  somewhere,  after  flaring  up  in  a  scorching 
flame,  becomes  the  rapacious  wolf,  the  evil  Loghe, 
who  elsewhere  appears  also  as  dog  and  bitch,  in 
unpleasant  connotations.  That  double  quality 
(scorching  and  lighting)  of  light  is  played  upon  in 
the  jargon  of  myth  everywhere.  Blood,  too,  appears 
in  double  sense,  as  poison,  anger,  raging  madness, 
and  as  expatiation,  appeasement,  peace.  Rage  and 
meekness,  darkness  and  light,  the  heavy  metal  and 
the  light  bird,  air  and  iron,  the  generating  of  joy 


112  Sex  and  Dreams 

and  sadness,  low  and  high,  sensuality  and  impo- 
tence, and  many  other  concepts  of  similar  anti- 
thetical character  are  traceable  likewise  to  the  same 
roots ;  the  lamb  as  well  as  the  beast,  which  are  often 
met  as  symbols  of  the  creative  logos  first  appear 
as  ram  expressing  the  generative  principle,  then 
as  representing  the  grossest  sensualism  (here,  too, 
lamb  and  flame,  from  same  root) ;  or  as  snake 
either  in  a  beneficial  or  in  a  fearfully  evil  sense." 

Not  infrequently  we  are  in  a  position  to  trace  in 
a  remarkable  manner  precisely  how  words  came  to 
be  used  in  a  sense  exactly  contrary  to  their  original 
meaning.  A  few  examples  will  suffice.  The  kinship 
of  knowing  and  generating  has  been  traced  already 
in  a  very  remarkable  manner  by  Franz  Baeder:  "In 
language  and  myth,  dove,  too,  which  as  the  holy 
spirit  puts  in  motion  the  water  of  life  as  well  as 
man's  cognitive  spirit,  is  identical  with  the  bird 
phoenix  and  with  the  palm  (tree  or  leaf).  The 
palm,  also  the  flower  of  night  at  the  fountain  of 
life,  or,  in  other  versions  of  myth,  the  acorn,  vine, 
or  fig  tree  becomes  the  tree  of  knowledge,  which  is 
at  the  same  time  also  the  tree  of  contention.  Finally 
the  tree  of  knowledge  becomes  the  lingam,  the  ap- 
paratus and  symbol  of  sensuous  delights.  In  the 
same  manner  the  seeing  eye,  the  fountain  of 
light,  the  Word,  becomes  on  the  one  side  the  building, 
creating  hand,  on  the  other,  with  the  hand  itself, 
signifies  the  organ  of  physical  generation.  The 


Contrary  Meanings  113 

vitalizing  eye  becomes  at  the  same  time  the  evil 
(killing)  eye,  the  truth-generating,  oath-yielding 
hand,  the  organ  of  falsehood,  lying,  waste.  Thus, 
that  young  prudish  virgin  who  in  the  myth  was 
never  touched  by  the  breath  of  a  sensuous  wish  be- 
comes the  sophisticated  goddess  of  the  most  unre- 
strained and  wildest  sensuality;  the  creative,  spir- 
itually cognitive,  word  undergoes  a  terrible  change 
under  the  picture  of  the  horrible  ram  Mendes,  whose 
cult  includes  all  the  shameful  deeds  relating  to  the 
most  bestial  animal  lust;  the  fish  and  the  snake  of 
sensuous  indulgence  generate  also  that  terrible 
poison,  which  has  corrupted  the  world  and  life.  The 
word  of  love,  the  holy  name,  the  law  become  punish- 
ment, anger,  revenge.  Just  as  linguistic  catastro- 
phes change  good  into  evil,  light  into  darkness,  so 
the  same  mechanisms  effect  the  reverse  transforma- 
tions, evil  turning  into  good;  and  many  examples 
in  myth  and  language,  show  evil  and  poison  trans- 
formed into  lovely  figures  or  beneficial  agencies." 

Freud,  in  the  second  volume  of  the  Jahrbuch  fur 
psycTioanalytische  und  psychopathologische  Forsch- 
ungen,  called  our  attention  to  a  pamphlet  by  Karl 
Abel,  entitled  Ueber  den  Gegensinn  der  Urworte  (On 
the  Contrary  Meaning  of  Aboriginal  Words,  pub- 
lished in  1889). 

In  that  work  Abel  points  out: 

"In  the  Egyptian  language  .  .  .  that  unique 
relic  of  a  primitive  world,  there  are  a  fairly  large 


114*  Sex  and  Dreams 

number  of  words  with  double  meaning,  each  the 
exact  contrary  of  the  other.  Consider  the  apparent 
nonsense  of  having  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  word 
strong,  for  instance,  in  our  language,  means  strong 
and  "weak  at  the  same  time;  that  the  noun  light 
means  light  as  well  as  darkness;  etc.,  and  there  we 
have  a  concrete  picture  of  what  the  Egyptians  were 
accustomed  to  meet  in  their  daily  language.  Who 
can  be  blamed  for  an  inclination  to  shake  one's  head 
incredulously?  .  .  . 

"Considering  this  and  many  similar  instances  of 
antithetical  meaning,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
there  was  at  least  one  language  containing  a  multi- 
tude of  words  signifying  one  thing  and  at  the  same 
time  the  exact  opposite.  Strange  as  it  may  seem 
the  fact  is  plain  and  we  must  take  it  into  considera- 
tion. 

"Among  all  the  eccentricities  of  the  Egyptian 
lexicon  the  most  extraordinary  perhaps  is  the  fact 
that,  in  addition  to  words  which  cover  opposite 
meanings,  the  language  contains  also  compound 
words,  formed  of  a  couple  of  syllables  of  contrary 
meaning,  but  standing  as  a  unit  the  meaning  of 
which  disregards  entirely  the  sense  of  one  of  the  com- 
ponent parts.  In  that  remarkable  language  there 
are,  thus,  not  merely  words  which  signify  strong  as 
well  as  weak,  commanding  as  well  obeying;  there 
are  also  composite  terms  such  as  old-young,  distant- 
near,  uniting-dividing,  outside-inside,  which  in  spite 
of  their  double  and  antithetical  source,  signify,  re- 
spectively, old,  distant,  uniting,  outside.  .  .  .  These 
compound  words  deliberately  bring  together  con- 
trary meanings,  not  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a 
new  meaning,  as  is  done  occasionally  in  the  Chinese 


Contrary  Meanings  115 

language,  but  merely  in  order  to  use  the  composite 
term  in  the  sense  of  one  of  its  antithetical  compo- 
nents, when  the  latter  would  have  carried  the  same 
meaning,  if  taken  by  itself.  .  .  ." 

But  the  riddle  is  more  easily  solved  than  may 
appear  on  the  surface.  Our  concepts  arise  through 
contrasts.  "If  it  were  always  light,"  states 
Freud,  in  his  interpretative  abstract  of  Abel's  essay 
mentioned  above,  "we  should  not  distinguish  between 
light  and  darkness,  and  consequently  we  would  have 
neither  the  concept  nor  the  word  light.  ...  It  is 
clear,  everything  on  this  planet  is  relative  and  has 
independent  existence  only  insofar  as  it  stands  in 
relation  to,  and  differs  from,  other  objects.  .  .  . 
Since  every  concept  is  thus  the  twin  of  its  opposite, 
how  could  it  be  perceived,  how  could  it  be  communi- 
cated at  all  to  another  trying  to  acquire  it,  except 
through  comparison  or  contrast  with  its  opposite?" 

In  dreams  this  contrast  or  antithesis  plays  a  great 
role.  The  most  wonderful  peculiarity  of  human 
nature,  man's  bipolarity,  expresses  itself  through 
this  extremely  interesting  psychic  phenomenon. 
There  is  no  "negative"  in  dreams,  as  Freud  aptly  re- 
marks. But  in  that  sense  there  is  also  no  "yes." 
The  dream  divinity  is  the  arch-type  of  the  doubter. 

In  some  dreams  this  contrariness  is  deliberately 
expressed,  and  specifically  through  doubt,  as  in  the 
following  dream  of  an  artist  suffering  of  a  profes- 
sional neurosis: 


116  Sex  and  Dreams 

(28)  I  am  running  away  from  some  one,  or  else 
I  am  pursuing  somebody  through  water,  over  steps, 
into  the  room.  It  occurs  to  him  that  there  was  some 
one  else  in  the  dream;  we  try  to  inform  ourselves  who 
that  could  be,  and  he  replies  it  was  a  colleague,  a 
piano  player  like  himself,  who  tried  to  enter  the  tech- 
nical school;  he  was  not  accepted  and  that  worried 
him  very  much. 

The  person  he  pursued  he  does  not  recall,  but  we 
know  from  previous  analyses  that  it  can  be  only  his 
own  mother,  and  in  fact  it  was  his  habit  as  a  child 
to  run  off  over  the  steps  and  into  the  room  when  she 
threatened  to  punish  him.  He  remembers  such 
scenes,  he  recalls  also  that  during  the  previous  year 
he  and  his  mother  bathed  together  in  a  river.  The 
men's  dressing  cabins  were  on  one  side,  the  women's 
on  the  other.  In  spite  of  the  great  distance  he  swam 
nearly  one  half  hour  to  his  mother,  whom  he 
reached  in  a  state  of  exhaustion.  We  see  that  both 
incidents  are  fixed  in  the  dream.  As  a  child  he  ran 
from  his  mother,  as  an  adult  he  swam  across  the 
river  to  her  side.  What  is  the  meaning  of  this 
dream?  He  is  a  great  Don  Juan,  mostly  in  his 
phantasy;  but  if  he  followed  his  inclination,  he 
would  become  the  kind  of  character  called  in  Vienna 
a  Steiger  (literally,  a  "stepper").  Hence  the  mean- 
ing of  Stiege  (steps,  or  stairway).  The  rooms,  as 
usual  in  dreams,  signify  women  (in  German,  Zim- 
mer-Frauenzimmer,  rooms — women)  ;  to  climb  after 


Colloquial  Expressions  117 

Frauenzimmer  (women) — that  is,  indeed,  his  chief 
preoccupation.  He  runs  after  all  women,  one  after 
another,  and  cannot  be  true  to  any  one.  But  why 
does  he  run  after  all  women  without  being  true  to 
one?  Because  he  is  running  away  from  one  woman 
who  cannot  be  a  wife  to  him — his  mother. 

This  brief  dream  discloses  the  psychology  of  the 
Don  Juan.  Because  of  his  perpetual  fidelity  Don 
Juan  is  untrue.  He  is  eternally  true  to  his  infan- 
tile ideal,  the  mother,  and  because  he  looks  every- 
where for  this  ideal,  and  never  finds  her,  every 
woman  rouses  him  and  promptly  disappoints  him. 
What  interests  him  in  the  end  is  the  woman's  re- 
sistance and,  sure  of  disappointment,  he  concen- 
trates his  whole  attention  on  the  task  of  overcom- 
ing the  resistance  and  of  making  the  conquest.  The 
two  opposite  tendencies,  the  running  off,  which  im- 
plies pursuit,  or,  if  we  prefer,  the  pursuit,  which 
similarly  designates  a  running  away  are  strikingly 
well  expressed  in  this  dream.  Dreams  of  water  are 
usually  birth  dreams  and  it  was  not  an  accident, 
therefore,  that  in  this  case  the  dream  evoked  the 
recollection  of  the  dreamer's  swimming  to  his 
mother.  But  who  is  the  colleague  who  was  not  ac- 
cepted? His  younger  brother.  He  wishes  to  be  the 
only  child  in  his  mother's  "technical  school."  That 
the  master  is  the  father,  even  the  tyro  in  analysis 
will  have  surmised.  Mr.  X.  is  also  the  father  (con- 
densation) who  thus  appears  excluded  from  the 


118  Sex  and  Dreams 

school,  like  the  brother.  Piano  playing  is  a  common 
symbol  for  "sexual  intercourse"  or  for  "masturba- 
tion," like  all  other  acts  involving  the  notion  of 
"playing." 

I  continue  this  series  of  dreams  by  giving  next 
a  very  interesting  dream  in  which  transposition 
plays  a  great  role.  This  is  a  so-called  political 
dream.  Indeed,  dream  life  conceives  nothing  as 
holy.  The  greatest  and  loftiest  personages  of  the 
world  of  high  politics  are  utilized  by  the  dream  as 
symbols  for  commonplace  homely  thoughts.  But 
let  us  not  anticipate  the  interpretation  but  relate 
first  the  dream,  which  on  first  perusal  gives  the  im- 
pression of  something  logical,  and  that  is  seldom  the 
case  with  dreams.  My  political  dream  is  as  fol- 
lows: 

(29)  I  am  in  the  Hofburg  and  see  Bismarck. 
With  others  I  shout:  Hoch!  Some  one  starts  the 
anthem.  I  join  lustily.  Several  fall  on  their  knees. 
...  7  see  Bismarck  again.  We  speak  about  the 
incident,  also  about  the  books  which  he  carries.  I 
tell  him  that  our  library  shows  a  striking  gap  when- 
ever we  take  out  a  few  books  on  a  journey.  He 
thinks  he  never  had  that  feelmg,  and  I  explain  that 
by  the  fact  that  in  his  tremendously  large  library  a 
few  books  more  or  less  makes  no  difference. 

We  have  here  a  political  dream,  in  which  some 
German  nationalists  persistently  acclaim  Bismarck; 
they  become  noisy  and  partly  as  reaction  call  forth 


Word  Associations  119 

the  answer  of  all  good  patriots,  the  people's  hymn. 
And  yet!  Like  most  political  dreams  this  dream, 
too,  has  nothing  to  do  with  politics. 

I  had  the  dream  in  P.,  a  beautiful  rural  place  at 
the  sea.  We  had  our  summer  place  there.  But  un- 
fortunately my  vacation  was  disturbed.  One  week 
before  the  projected  removal  to  the  place  I  received 
disquieting  news  from  F.,  where  my  aged  mother 
lives.  A  telegram  called  me  to  her.  I  found  her  in 
a  serious  condition  which  required  my  constant  pres- 
ence near  her.  Under  such  circumstances  vacation- 
ing at  P.  was  out  of  question.  I  determined  quickly 
to  remove  my  family  from  P.  to  Abbazia,  where 
I  could  see  also  my  mother  daily.  I  also  thought 
that  the  presence  of  my  family  would  bring  joy 
to  the  bedridden  patient  and  aid  her  recovery. 
(That  actually  was  the  case.  There  is  no  physician 
like  joy.)  I  remained  for  a  few  days  at  F.,  until 
her  condition  improved  somewhat,  and  then  went  to 
P.,  which  I  was  sorry  to  have  to  leave.  On  the  sec- 
ond night  of  my  sojourn  there  I  had  my  "political" 
dream. 

And  now  the  analysis. 

/  am  in  the  Hofburg.  My  summer  residence 
pleased  me  immensely.  It  was  a  villa  with  a  long 
veranda  permitting  a  beautiful  view  across  Maria- 
Worth.  Everything  was  so  pleasant  and  comfort- 
able, that  my  little  one  said:  "The  Kaiser  could  not 
have  it  any  nicer!"  Hofburg,  then,  means  the  best 


120  Sex  and  Dreams 

summer  residence.  A  further  association  is  the 
name  of  the  owner.  His  name  is  Schweinburg.  He 
is  the  architect  who  has  built  the  Burg  theater  at 
Vienna,  which  some  one  called  jestingly  the  Schwein- 
burg theater.  The  Hofburg  of  my  dream,  then,  is 
my  villa,  and  the  beginning  of  the  dream  signifies: 
I  am  at  P.,  in  my  fine,  beautifully  situated  summer 
residence. 

And  I  see  Bismarck.  What  has  Bismarck  to  do 
with  P.?  That  is  also  easy  to  understand.  The 
Bismarck  of  the  dream  was  a  strikingly  tall,  thin 
man  with  yellowish-muddy  complexion  and  white 
mustache.  The  dream  here  carries  out  the  wit- 
ticism so  common  in  dreams,  of  covering  up  the  con- 
tent by  transposition  into  the  opposite.  The  big, 
lean  man  with  white  mustache  and  yellowish  com- 
plexion is  a  small,  heavy,  florid  appearing  man  with 
a  dark  mustache,  my  friend  Dr.  M.,  whose  summer 
residence  in  P.  so  pleased  me  the  year  before  that 
I  chose  one  in  the  same  place.  Dr.  M.  had  an  un- 
pleasant controversy  with  a  society  to  which  we  both 
belonged  and  he  adjusted  it  with  such  diplomatic 
skill  that  I  assured  him  at  the  time:  Bismarck  him- 
self could  not  have  done  better!  Moreover,  another 
colleague  told  me  of  Dr.  M.  that  he  was  very  clever 
and  experienced,  a  second  Bismarck  in  his  vocation. 
The  dream  represents  the  wish  that  he  should 
now  act  as  skillfully  as  a  Bismarck  and  help  me 


Associations  121 

get  released  of  the  contract  for  the  summer  resi- 
dence without  too  great  a  loss,  so  that  I  may  be 
able  to  return  quickly  to  mother. 

With  the  others  I  shouted:  Hoch!  We  are  a 
group  all  praising  P.  We  love  the  beautiful  place 
at  the  sea,  the  clean  roads.  Whither  one  walks  one 
has  the  impression  of  moving  in  a  great  garden; 
there  are  interesting  excursion  spots ;  we  praise  the 
bathing,  the  charming  position  of  the  establish- 
ment, etc. 

Some  one  begins  the  people's  anthem.  Mr.  S.,  a 
man  of  the  people,  now  well-to-do,  thought  the 
place  was  very  expensive.  He  has  spent  a  lot  of 
money  in  a  few  weeks. 

/  join  lustily.  That  is  a  fact.  The  absence  of  a 
moderate  priced  inn  might  interfere  with  my  stay 
at  P. 

Several  persons  fall  on  their  knees:  refers  to  the 
ridiculous  deference  of  some  persons  towards  the 
proprietor  of  the  establishment. 

Then  I  see  Bismarck  again,  we  speak  of  the  inci- 
dent. Incident  is  an  important  word.  Ein  Wechsel 
der  den  Zug  auf  andere  Geleise  bringt:  a  change 
which  makes  for  a  different  turn.  It  is  the  illness 
which  causes  painful  experience  to  a  being  most 
dear  to  me.  But  that  will  carry  us  into  another 
channel  of  our  dream  thoughts.  Let  us  beware  of 
digressing  and  continue  the  interpretation  on  the 


122  Sex  and  Dreams 

path  on  which  we  have  already  started.  I  spoke 
with  Dr.  M.  about  my  difficulty  and  he  promised  me 
his  assistance  in  canceling  the  contract. 

.  .  .  Also  about  the  books  which  he  carries.  I 
tell  him  that  our  library  shows  a  marked  gap  when- 
ever we  take  out  a  few  books  on  a  journey.  He< 
thinks  he  never  had  that  feeling,  and  I  explain  that 
by  the  fact  that,  in  his  tremendous  large  library,  a 
few  books  more  or  less  make  no  difference. 

This  is  a  reference  to  the  savings  bank  account 
on  which  I  drew  before  undertaking  the  journey. 
My  wife,  always  the  economical,  thrifty  influence 
in  our  household,  thought  that  the  summer  expense 
— I  had  at  first  intended  to  spend  six  weeks  in  the 
country — would  cause  a  marked  gap  in  our  modest 
resources.  Dr.  M.,  who  was  also  to  stay  six  weeks 
at  the  place,  is  well-to-do  and  can  more  easily  afford 
the  luxury.  The  dream  plays  upon  this  thought. 
In  fact,  I  had  spoken  to  Dr.  M.  about  the  vacation 
expenses.2 

We  have  interpreted  the  dream  thus  far.  It  con- 
tains to  a  certain  extent  regrets  that  I  had  chosen 
so  expensive  a  summer  resort.  It  is,  as  if  I  had  said 

1  Savings  bank  account  here  means  also  woman.  In  my  mono- 
graph, Keuschheit  und  Gesundheit  (Prudery  and  Health)  I 
have  stated:  "There  is  no  savings  box  for  the  spermatozoa." 
Dr.  M.  figures  as  an  admirer  of  the  fair  sex.  I  accuse  him 
of  maintaining  a  harem,  while  I  have  but  one  wife.  According 
to  the  "symbolic  parallelism"  of  which  we  shall  speak  at  length 
in  the  next  chapter,  "spermatic  fluid"  means  also  "money." 
(Consider  also  the  expression  "striking  gap"  and  "tremendous 
large  library,"  from  that  standpoint.) 


Associations  123 

to  Dr.  M.  in  the  dream:  "Yes,  you  can  afford  to 
live  at  the  Hofburg.  What  does  it  matter  if  you 
do  make  some  inroads  into  your  savings  bank  ac- 
count? I  am  a  man  of  the  people,  for  whom  a  sim- 
ple country  place  would  be  good  enough. 

But  let  us  investigate  further.  I  have  already 
mentioned  that  the  word  Vorfall,  "incident,"  refers 
to  the  change  leading  in  another  direction.  Let  us 
now  take  up  the  other  path..  .  .  . 

There  are  a  number  of  dream  symbols  almost 
regularly  permitting  a  particular  translation.  A 
symbol  of  that  type  is  also  the  Emperor  in  the  dream, 
who,  as  I  have  already  said,  usually  represents  the 
father.  Applying  that  key,  the  Hofburg  becomes 
my  father's  residence  and  Bismarck  is  my  mother. 
That  fits  even  better.  A  strikingly  tall,  thin  man — 
stands  antithetically  for  a  small,  heavy  woman,  like 
my  mother,  whom  father  always  called  his  Bismarck. 
Wisdom  is  her  most  striking  characteristic.  The 
yellowish  complexion  due  to  illness  also  corresponds. 
I  found  my  mother  very  ill  and  I  was  distressed  to 
see  her  face  drawn  and  distorted  with  pain.  Bis- 
marck, thus,  represents  two  persons,  a  process 
called  Verdichtung  (condensation),  by  Freud. 

I  join  other  persons  shouting,  Hoch!  We  wish 
her  a  speedy  recovery.  "Kopf  hoch — Miitterchen, 
— keep  up  your  courage,  mother  dear, — you  will 
get  better,"  I  told  the  dear  aged  patient  when  she 
began  talking  about  a  will  and  about  dying.  Some 


124  Sex  and  Dreams 

one  starts  the  anthem :  It  goes :  Gott  erhalte — Gott 
beschiitze — God  keep, — God  protect" — in  this  case, 
of  course,  mother ! 

Several  persons  fatt  on  their  knees:  that  refers  to 
an  actual  occurrence  at  the  meeting. 

We  speak  of  the  occurrence:  that  reproduces  a 
daily  experience.  .  .  .  Also  about  the  books  he  car- 
ries along,  etc. :  gives  the  solution  to  the  dream.  I 
confessed  to  mother  that  I  made  a  great  sacrifice 
with  the  journey  (savings  bank  account).  She 
spoke  about  the  distribution  of  her  jewelry  which  we 
cherish  not  for  its  monetary  value  but  on  account  of 
its  associations. 

But  in  my  dream  I  see  mother  as  an  immensely 
wealthy  woman  possessing  a  tremendously  large 
"library.'*  The  wish  fulfillment  is  clear.  We,  her 
children,  are  the  heirs.  Instead  of  relics  we  receive 
tremendous  sums  of  money,  for  she  is  as  rich  as  a 
Princess  (Bismarck).  The  dream  reveals  to  me  an 
ugly,  unpleasant,  painful  thought,  which  I  have 
never  entertained  in  waking  life,  but  which  must 
have  been  slumbering  in  my  breast.  While  mother 
was  speaking  about  the  distribution  of  her  humble 
goods,  I  must  have  repressed  an  emotion  which,  ex- 
pressed in  words,  may  sound  approximately  as  fol- 
lows: "Why  are  you  talking  about  your  pitiful 
possessions,  as  if  you  were  leaving  behind,  who 
knows  what  great  and  valuable  inheritance!  You 
won't  even  cover  the  expenses  of  my  journey  here,** 


Unbidden  Thoughts  125 

I  need  hardly  emphasize  that  my  waking  con- 
sciousness is  unaware  of  such  a  thought.  I  am  any- 
thing but  careful  in  money  matters  and  I  am  ex- 
tremely sensitive.  But  such  unconscious  thoughts 
are  linked  with  the  most  delicate  feelings  in  good 
men,  a  fact  which  should  make  us  more  thoughtful 
about  all  those  persons  whom  we  are  disposed  to 
consider  as  "bad"  without  knowing  more  closely 
their  circumstances. 

The  analysis  thus  far  has  not  shown  the  relation- 
ship of  the  dream  to  the  infantile  root.  But  the 
connection  is  there.  It  reminds  me  of  one  of  the 
most  unpleasant  experiences  of  my  childhood.  I 
was  a  small  boy  and  was  standing  in  front  of  the 
library,  which  a  brother's  pride  and  mine  had  built 
up  (the  brother  was  six  years  older).  Suddenly  the 
thought  came  to  me:  "If  your  brother  should  die 
now,  this  library  would  be  wholly  yours!"  I  ran 
away  shocked.  I  thought  I  was  a  terrible  sinner, 
and  the  recollection  of  this  occurrence  has  often 
caused  my  cheeks  to  flush  with  shame.  (SuderTnawi 
relates  a  similar  experience  in  his  novel,  Die  Ge- 
schwister.)  I  believe  that  I  also  struggled  at  the  time 
with  the  temptation  of  stealing  some  of  the  books 
and  selling  them  to  the  second  hand  dealer,  a  thing 
I  often  did  with  my  own  books. 

The  pretty  political  dream  thus  has  also  a  deeper 
meaning-motivation.  My  mother  is  wealthy.  But 
I  am  the  only  heir.  My  brother  does  not  enter  into 


126  Sex  and  Dreams 

the  situation.  The  boy's  selfish  wish  has  still  re- 
tained the  power  of  influencing  the  plastic  pictures 
of  the  dream  (library). 

Three  weeks  later  in  Abbazia  I  had  a  dream  which 
was  a  continuation  of  the  former.  A  proof  that  the 
dream  thoughts  play  variants  on  the  same  theme. 

(30)  I  am  in  Neuwaldegg.  One  of  the  last  houses 
is  a  wonderful  villa  belonging  to  my  mother.  I  as- 
cend a  marble  stairway  and  come  into  a  gigantic 
reception  room  exquisitely  furnished  in  red  and  gold. 
"Oh,"  I  say,  "there  is  comfortable  space  for  every- 
body here." 

The  history  of  the  preliminary  circumstances  of 
the  dream  is  partly  known.  I  rented  a  residence  at 
Abbazia  where  we  were  in  fact  rather  cramped  for 
space.  I  also  secured  for  mother  a  room  which 
seemed  to  me  not  well  enough  furnished.  In  the 
dream  I  am  again  in  Vienna.  One  cannot  be  more 
comfortable  than  traveling  to  Neuwaldegg,  a  suburb 
of  Vienna,  instead  of  traveling  to  distant  Abbazia. 
My  mother  is  a  wealthy  lady.  In  her  reception  room 
we  are  comfortable.  Here  the  continuation  of  the 
dream  comes  to  my  mind: 

W.  wants  to  give  our  servant  a  krone  as  a  tip,  but 
the  latter  scornfully  disregards  the  gift.3 

1  Further  determination  reveals  hidden  thoughts,  a  longing 
for  the  return  to  the  mother-body,  where  there  is  "comfortable 
room  for  all"  (?).  The  tip  or  gratuity,  in  German,  "Trink- 
geld,"  literally  "drink-money,"  leads  back  to  wet-nurse  mem- 
ories. 


Interpretation  127 

On  the  previous  day  I  had  lost  a  crown  playing 
the  game  of  Tarok  with  W.  That  very  night  even 
our  servant  refuses  that  sum  as  a  gratuity.  The 
dream  speaks  volumes.  .  .  . 

This  dream,  like  the  other,  lends  itself,  of  course, 
to  a  deeper  analysis.  But  I  must  forego  the  task. 
As  it  is,  I  have  already  disclosed  about  myself  much 
of  what  most  persons  prefer  to  keep  hidden. 

The  Dream  about  the  Confectioner: 

(31)  I  am  on  the  street.  A  big — no,  a  middle- 
sized,  rather  diminutive  man,  with  a  black  mustache 
pointing  downwards,  hold  me  by  the  hand  and  does 
not  want  to  let  go.  He  wants  to  squeeze  me.  I  say: 
let  me  off,  or  I'll  call  the  policeman  standing  there, 
near  my  children.  But  he  still  squeezes  me.  I  shout 
loudly:  police,  police.  The  officer  does  not  hear  my 
outcry.  The  man  squeezes  me  harder.  I  struggle 
this  way  and  that  and  I  shake  the  hand  so  hard  that 
the  man's  squeezing  does  not  hurt  me.  Meanwhile  I 
shout  again:  Police,  police!  The  officer  sees  us 
and  comes  running  in  our  direction.  The  man  is 
arrested  (f).  Suddenly  we  f.nd  ourselves  in  the 
Liliengasse  (street).  I  and  my  two  children  in  the 
room,  and  in  the  kitchen  the  dark  man  who  now 
wears  a  big  black  beard.  A  small  hallway  between 
us.  The  man's  name  is  PeUmann  and  his  remark- 
able memory  has  made  an  impression  in  the  Court. 
I  cannot  shut  the  doors.  While  he  is  outside  I  try 
to  lock  up.  But  he  comes  into  my  room  from  be- 


128  Sex  and  Dreams 

hind.  I  say  to  him,  laughingly:  "Of  course,  I  can't 
do  anything  with  so  good  a  gymnast."  He  looks  like 
Socrates — the  "Sturmgesette." 

A  strange,  nonsensical  dream.  Let  us  penetrate 
into  the  gist  of  the  dream  thought  and  take  apart 
the  warp  and  woof  of  its  structure. 

The  dream  is  linked  to  two  occurrences  of  the 
previous  day. 

R.  told  me  that  he  has  looked  up  the  Egyptian 
dream  book  because  he  has  found  therein  many  re- 
semblances to  Pellmann's  system  of  memory  culture; 
at  a  restaurant  I  saw  an  illustration  of  Sudermann's 
ffSokrates  der  Sturmgeselle";  also  a  satirical  pic- 
ture: Sudermann  takes  up  the  warfare  against 
critics.  So  much  for  the  recent  inciters.  Now  we 
begin  the  analysis. 

/  am  on  the  street.  This  brings  to  my  mind  the 
Landesgerichtsstrasse  and  the  spot  where  the  ac- 
tion takes  place  in  the  little  park  in  front  of  the 
Czernin  palace,  where  the  Czernin  gallery  is  situ- 
ated. The  road  leads  from  my  house  directly  past 
there  and  to  the  Secession  Building  (an  art  gallery). 
In  the  Czernin  gallery  I  learned  to  appreciate  the 
art  of  painting.  I  recall  particularly  an  incident 
with  Professor  E.  We  were  standing  in  front  of 
the  painting  of  Paulus  Puter, — no,  it  should  be 
Potter.  My  companion  exclaimed:  this  picture  has 
Luft,  Luft,  Luft, — atmosphere!  (literally,  air!). 

A  big — no,  a  middle-sized,  rather  diminutive  man, 


Associations  129 

with  a  black  mustache  pointing  downwards  holds 
me  by  the  hand  and  does  not  want  to  let  go.  This) 
brings  to  my  mind,  Mr.  Rummel,  confectioner  in 
my  old  home  town,  whom  I  have  seen  only  a  few 
times,  the  last  time  some  fifteen  years  ago.  This 
fellow  Rummel  had  once  written  a  rather  shallow 
feuilleton  under  the  pseudonym  Lemur  (a  transpo- 
sition of  Rummel)  which  stirred  me  to  an  imitation 
of  Lessing's  verse: 

Wer  wird  nicht  einen  Lemur  lesen  — 
Doch  wird  ihn  jemand  loben?    Nein. 
Wir  wollen  weniger  gelesen 
Und  mehr  belobet  sein.  — 


io  would  not  read  a  Lemur  — 
But  will  any  one  praise  him?    No. 
We  would  rather  be  less  read 
And  better  liked.] 

What  is  the  meaning  of  a  big,  no,  a  middle-sized, 
rather  diminutive  man?  Clearly  a  person  who  fuses 
all  these  qualities,  in  the  present  case,  I  myself. 
Perhaps  I  imagine  I  am  a  big,  —  no,  a  middle-sized 
investigator  when  in  truth  I  am  rather  a  small  one. 
Now  I  understand  the  "confectioner."  I  put  my 
"sugar  wares"  before  my  readers,  like  Mr.  Rummel, 
feuilletonist  and  confectioner.  In  fact  I  was  busy 
with  my  book  on  the  evening  before  the  dream.  I 
feared  it  was  not  "deep"  enough,  only  "Zucker- 


130  Sex  and  Dreams 

werk,"  confectionery  tidbits.  I  decided  to  cast  off 
these  sweets,  these  "bonbons,"  as  a  colleague  once 
called  them.  And  now  the  next  passage: 

He  does  not  want  to  let  me  go.  He  wants  to 
squeeze  me  (i.e.,  keep  down  the  level  of  my  achieve- 
ments). The  watchman  who  stands  by  my  children 
is  a  watchwoman,  namely  my  wife,  who  takes  a  keen 
interest  in  my  work  and  is  not  easily  satisfied.  She 
must  help  me — get  that  "Hummel"  off  my  breast. 

The  watchman  does  not  hear  my  outcry.  My  wife 
in  my  opinion  does  not  pay  sufficient  attention  to 
my  writings. 

I  struggle  this  way  and  that  way  and  1  shake  the 
hand  so  vigorously  that  the  squeezing  does  not  hurt 
me.  I  cover  up  my  superficiality,  I  get  along  well 
that  way, — earn  money ;  Professor  E.  and  Professor 
F.  warmly  shake  my  hand.  I  got  along  well.  I 
know  now  something  about  oil  paintings,  I  won't 
mistake  a  print  for  an  oil  painting. 

The  man  is  arrested:  That  leads  to  an  over- 
stressing  of  the  dream  picture,  an  overdetermina- 
tion  and  the  analysis  of  this  point  would  carry  us 
too  far  afield. 

Very  interesting  is  the  recall  error  Puter  instead 
of  Potter.  In  the  forgotten  dialect  of  childhood 
"Puter"  means  being  rid  of,  that  is,  free.  This  first 
part  of  the  dream,  then,  portrays  the  desire  to  get 
rid  of  the  petty  confectionery  tidbits  with  the  aid 
of  the  wife  and  of  Professors  E.  and  F. 


Associations  131 

Suddenly  we  find  ourselves  in  Cz.  The  dream, 
like  every  dream,  stretches  its  roots  down  into  the 
infantile  life.  I  and  my  two  children  in  the  room 
and  in  the  kitchen  the  dark  man  who  now  wears  a 
big  black  beard.  I  have  now  reached  a  step  higher; 
for  I  seem  myself  in  the  dream.  I  am  a  Pellmann 
possessing  a  wonderful  memory.  For  days  I  have 
been  thinking  over  a  plan  to  write  on  the  subject  of 
memory. 

His  remarkable  memory  has  made  an  impression 
before  the  Court.  A  roundabout  self-praise.  I 
think  a  great  deal  of  my  last  appearance  as  expert 
at  Court,  where  my  testimony  engaged  the  closest 
attention  of  those  present.  Now  Pellmann  is 
changed  into  Sudermann  who  takes  up  the  cudgels 
against  critics.  I  wish  to  get  rid  of  my  self-criti- 
cism. I  am  Socrates  who  is  also  "a  drawer  of  water 
and  hewer  of  wood" ;  Socrates  criticizes  the  latter. 
The  criticism  openly  resented  is  felt  in  a  round- 
about way. 

iSo  skillful  a  gymnast  can't  be  kept  down:  It 
brings  to  my  mind  the  nursery  room  of  K.,  in  the 
watchtower,  connected  by  a  subterranean  passage 
with  the  gymnasium  room,  so  that  the  children 
should  not  catch  cold  during  inclement  weather.  I 
am  the  gymnast  and  the  dream  reassures  me  that  I 
shall  free  myself  of  all  unpleasantnesses  in  life,  that 
I  will  find  my  way  out  of  all  difficulties.  Irrational 
dreams  of  greatness  about  my  forthcoming  book! 


132  Sex  and  Dreams 

Infantile,  vague  sexual  reminiscences!  Unpleasant 
experiences  of  the  last  few  years !  Doubts  concern- 
ing my  personal  ability!  Endless  self -adulation ! 
Disregard  of  all  criticism!  All  that  condensed, 
fused  in  a  single  web!  Here  we  see  how  richly  the 
dream  is  determined.  Not  only  two,  or  three  or  four 
strands, — any  number  of  them  may  be  fused  in  the 
dream.  Moreover,  how  well  suited  is  the  choice  of 
Rummel,  the  feuilletonist,  the  confectioner! 

The  analysis  thus  far  does  not  include  the  most 
important  features.  Who  holds  me  down  to  the 
affliction  of  my  unconscious?  Naturally  my  wife. 
I  feel  myself  held  down  by  the  marriage  tie.  The 
wife  and  the  two  children  are  a  stumblingblock 
against  carrying  out  the  polygamic  instincts.  I 
wish  to  be  Socrates  and  at  the  same  time  to  enjoy 
the  adventurous  "storm  and  stress"  life. 

Another  feature  is  noteworthy.  Why  does  a  big 
dark  man  play  here  a  role?  That  brings  to  my  mind 
a  strikingly  handsome  colleague  with  whom  I  have 
practiced  gymnastics.  Clearly  homosexual  lean- 
ings are  breaking  through  in  the  dream, — leanings 
against  which  my  wife  must  protect  me,  for  they 
may  land  one  in  Court !  That  is  why  he  steals  into 
my  room  from  behind.  In  the  dream  all  caution 
and  all  watchfulness  proves  useless. 

Here  the  anal  complex  links  itself.  That  was  to 
be  suspected  already  with  the  recall  of  the  associa- 
tion,— Luft,  Luft,  Luftf  atmosphere, — that  is,  air! 


Associations  133 

I  have  reached  thus  far  without  doubling  on  the 
trail  of  associations.  Now  it  occurs  to  me  that  the 
pseudonym  Lemur  is  the  reverse  of  Rummel.  That 
suggests  a  return  to  the  great  dark  man.  And,  lo! 
Presently  I  am  thinking  of  a  little  blonde  girl, 
Bertha.  My  first  love!  On  the  very  day  when  the 
Lemur  feuilleton  had  appeared,  I  saw  her  standing 
in  front  of  the  confectioner's  shop  window,  my 
hero  of  the  day,  and  I  suddenly  fell  in  love  with  her. 
One  can  imagine  the  excitement  of  a  high  school  boy 
who  produces  lyrics  by  the  ream  and  who  is  finally 
lucky  enough  to  have  an  unfortunate  love  affair — 
a  love  unrequited.  That  first  love  truly  was  an  un- 
happy one.  I  never  spoke  to  the  lady  of  my  heart ! 
But  she  once  turned  around  to  tell  me  that  she  finds 
my  everlasting  dogging  her  steps  foolish.  .  .  . 

Nevertheless  I  remained  faithful  to  her  for  years. 
Indeed,  perhaps  I  have  never  outgrown  that  first 
love.  There  was  a  sweet  sorrow  to  my  passion.  The 
squeezing  did  not  hurt  me  in  the  dream,  although 
she  did  not  let  go  of  my  hand.  Note  the  wish  ful- 
fillment. She  grabs  me  and  does  not  let  me  off. 
She  holds  on  to  me. 

Now  I  understand  the  cryptic  hatred  which  the 
dream  discloses  against  my  wife.  I  revenge  myself 
on  women  for  the  scornful  rejection  I  experienced 
on  the  occasion  of  my  unforgettable  first  love  affair. 
This  process  is  illustrated  also  in  the  psychology  of 
the  Don  Juan  type  (in  addition  to  the  features  al- 


134  Sex  and  Dreams 

ready  mentioned).  Only  in  that  sense  can  I  under- 
stand the  contrast  between  my  conscious  and  my 
unconscious  attitude  towards  my  wife.  I  say  to  my- 
self repeatedly:  if  you  were  now  once  more  free  to 
choose,  you  would  again  choose  your  wife.  That,  of 
course,  is  the  highest  compliment  that  can  be  paid 
to  a  woman. 

In  the  unconscious  I  see  myself  back)  in  the 
Liliengasse  without  her.  There  is  where  I  lived 
when  I  fell  so  passionately  in  love.  The  watchman 
is  by  antithesis  (of  the  imperative:  watch  out!)  the 
command :  sleep  on,  wife !  That  seems  to  me  to  be 
very  strongly  indicated.  For  I  am  (without  the 
wife)  at  home  in  Cz.  with  my  two  children,  with  my 
first  love  and  with  my  mother.  Truly  a  remarkable 
loyalty  ("astonishing  memory").  Pellmann  re- 
minds me  of  a  psychiatrist  by  that  name,  who 
wrote  an  interesting  book  and  of  Pekelmann,  a  boy- 
hood friend.  He  was  a  diminutive  fellow — an  actor 
of  medium  ("middle-sized")  quality  and  an  excel- 
lent genial  reciter.  (Observe  the  association  series: 
Stekel  —  ekelhafter  —  Mann  —  Pekelmann  —  Pell- 
mann.) My  friend  repeatedly  recited  a  ballad  by 
Meissner  called  The  Jewess,  and  ending  with  the  re- 
frain, "Her  grave — it  waits." 

The  dark  man  is  death.  When  considering  sys- 
tematically the  subject  of  death  symbolism  I  shall 
take  the  opportunity  of  speaking  at  greater  length 


Interpretation  135 

about  the  "black  man."  Death  wants  me.  I  refer 
him  to  my  wife  who,  through  association  with 
Socrates,  receives  the  uncomplimentary  and  unde- 
served appellation  of  a  Xantippe.  Death  cannot 
harm  me.  I  do  not  fear  death  and  never  feared  it. 

I  am  Socrates,  draining  with  philosophic  calm 
the  hemlock  cup.  Now  it  strikes  me  that  the  great 
Turner  whose  picture  occurs  in  the  dream  was  really 
Richter  (Also  it  brings  to  my  mind  a  gigantic  and 
powerful  school  colleague,  who  is  already  dead.) 
The  associations  Landesgerichtsstrasse,  Wachmann, 
Richter  (Court  Street,  officer,  Judge)  lead  into  the 
criminal  realm.  The  laughter  at  the  end  of  the 
dream,  too,  is  to  be  understood  in  reverse  sense.  It 
is  a  sad  dream  with  depressing  thoughts.  Pellmann 
is  the  criminal  against  whom  I  shut  the  door  to  my 
heart. 

Now  associations  overwhelm  me.  The  deepest 
layers  of  the  dream  are  ready  to  break  to  surface. 
But  we  must  abandon  the  analysis  at  this  point. 
Let  us  emphasize  first  the  fact  that  tjie  dark  man 
is  a  composite  picture  of  a  number  of  persons.  They 
are :  Rummel,  Bertha,  Richter,  Pellmann,  Pekelmann, 
death,  and,  finally,  my  own  inferiority.  All  the  per- 
sons of  the  dream  are  divisions  of  my  selfhood  and 
vitalized  with  my  thoughts.  The  process  of  conden- 
sation depends  on  the  capacity  of  the  psyche  of 
identifying  itself  with  various  persons.  Further 


136  Sex  and  Dreams 

illustrations  of  that  process  will  be  found  in  the  fol- 
lowing chapters.  Here  I  only  want  to  point  out  that 
this  dream,  too,  has  a  pronounced  bisexual  char- 
acter and  is  a  proof  of  "psychic  hermaphroditism" 


VI 


DREAM          MASKS,          CONT.  TRANSPOSITION          FROM 

BELOW,   UPWARDS,   AND  FROM  THE  FRONT,  BACK- 
WARDS  SCORN    UNDER   THE    MASK    OF    GENTILITY 

A    DREAM    WHICH    MUST    BE    INTERPRETED    IN 

REVERSE    SENSE THE    SECOND    SYMBOLIC    EQUA- 
TION  THE  SYMBOLIZATION  OF  SCORNFUL  LOVE 

WHY   THE   CHILD   CALLS   "PAPA !" A  BIOGRAPHIC 

DREAM 


Es  ist  mit  dem  Menschen  wie  mit  dem  Baum.  Je 
mehr  er  m  die  Hbhe  und  Helle  mil,  um  so  starker 
streben  seme  Wurzeln  erdwdrts,  abwarts,  ins  dunkle, 
Tiefe, — ins  Base. 

[Man  is  like  a  tree;  the  more  he  strives  upwards 
and  towards  the  light,  the  stronger  his  roots  drag 
him  downwards,  earthwards,  mto  darkness  and  the 
abyss, — into  the  pit  of  evil.] 

Nietzsche 


VI 

The  principle  of  "transposition  into  the  op- 
posite"  is  carried  out  in  various  ways  in  the  dream. 
A  preferable  means  for  the  substitution  is  the  dis- 
placement from  below.  Anything  referring  to  the 
bodily  region  below  the  umbilicus,  morally  abhor- 
rent, may  be  transposed  to  the  upper  part.  Thus, 
the  mouth  may  represent  the  vagina.  Here  we  en- 
counter the  first  symbolic  parallel  (Gleichung). 
These  symbolic  parallels  are  a  great  aid  to  any  one 
who  knows  them,  at  times  indispensable  in  the  inter- 
pretation of  dreams.  The  parallelism  reads:  Att 
bodily  openings  (in  the  dream)  are  equal  to  each 
other  and  may  substitute  one  another.  Thus, 
mouth,  eyes,  ears,  nasal  opening,  anus,  vagina,  ure- 
thra and  navel *  may  substitute  each  other. 

An  example  will  illustrate  this  principle  of  sym- 
bolic parallelism.  A  girl  dreams: 

(32)  Mama  has  told  me  not  to  allow  so  much  bor- 
ing m  the  nose, 

1  Nabeln  for  coire;  vid.  Anthropophyteia,  vol.  VII,  p.  13. 
For  instance,  anus  is  called  the  "Cyclopean  eye":  Ibid.,  p.  44. 
Also,  Fr.  "Cyclope";  the  "one-eyed  affair"— das  "ein-iiugige 
Oetchdft" — means  homosexuality:  Anthropophyteia,  vol.  II,  p. 
428.  The  vagina  is  also  called  the  "ear  between  the  legs'' — 
da*  "Ohr  zwischen  den  Beinen":  Anthropophyteia,  vol.  I,  p.  339. 

139 


140  Sex  and  Dreams 

and  she  wonders  at  the  meaningless  "allow."  She 
had  the  ugly  habit  of  boring  her  nose,  which  in  most 
cases  is  a  symbolic  displacement  from  below.  Here 
the  introitus  of  the  nose  replaces  the  one  below. 

Let  us  analyze  another  dream  which  shows  even 
more  plainly  than  the  former  one,  this  displacement 
from  below. 

Mr.  Theta  dreams : 

(33)  I  am  engaged  in  conversation  with  J.  L.  and 
I  become  aware  of  the  fact  that  I  have  a  flat  fleshly 
growth  at  the  back  of  my  head  and  I  reach  my  right 
hand  back  to  it. 

I  don't  like  its  presence  there  and  I  reflect  how  to 
get  rid  of  it. 

Now  it  has  the  appearance  of  a  smooth  soft  swell- 
ing. 

I  press  on  it  with  the  left  hand  and  at  first  there 
appears  a  little  bloody  drop  and  on  pressing  further 
a  bloody  fluid  trickles  forth  and  the  swelling  goes 
down.  I  look  around  for  something  to  soak  up  the 
fluid;  I  \am  using  for  the  purpose  perhaps  a  hand* 
kerchief  in  my  right  hand  but  what  I  want  is  a  suffi- 
cent  quantity  of  cotton. 

Mr.  J.  L.  offers  to  go  down  and  fetch  some  for  me. 

There  must  be  some  in  Dr.  Stekel's  office. 

Meanwhile  I  am  busy  with  the  swelling,  cleaning 
it  and  throwing  the  soaking  cotton  into  the  chamber 
pot,  which  stands  under  the  bed,  filled  with  urine. 
But  I  have  the  feeling  it  wiU  shock  J.  L.'s  sense  of 


Transposition 


141 


propriety  when  he  returns  and  finds  me  thus  making 
use  of  his  chamber  pot. 

I  also  believe  now  that  he  is  present  in  the  room. 

Our  conversation  room,  was  originally  an  office 
and  has  changed  into  a  living  room  while  I  was  busy 
cleansing  my  wound. 

THE  PLAK  or  THE  ROOM 


J.  L. 


Bed 


Myself 


I 


Wash  basin 
Room  exit 


This  dream  represents  chiefly  a  symbolic  account 
of  the  treatment.  The  dreamer  is  conversing  with 
J.  L.,  who  afterwards  changes  into  Dr.  Stekel.  His 
head  is  not  in  order.  He  carries  his  neurosis  like  n 
boil.  I  must  free  him  of  that  boil.  I  must  clean 
away  the  filth  (matter,  blood,  urine.  I  must  show 
him  another  path,  I  must  direct  him  (the  room  was 
originally  a  Direktionsgebaude) .  Incidentally  he 
wishes  an  intimate  preoccupation  with  his  various 
Sekreten  ("secreta,"  and  "secrets").  Here  we  en- 
counter the  second  symbolic  parallelism.  All 


14*2  Sex  and  Dreams 

secreta  and  excreta  are  equal  to  one  another.  Mu- 
cous secretion  (nasal,  cerumen,  etc.)  blood,  ether, 
urine,  bowel  excreta,  spermatic  fluid,  milk,  sweat 
and  tears  are  equal. 

This  symbolic  parallelism  witt  be  considered  more 
fully  later.  We  shall  then  take  up  the  particular 
parallels. 

We  return  to  our  dream.  The  soaking  up  of  the 
running  matter  rouses  the  suggestion  that  this  rep- 
resents suckling  at  the  nurse's  breast  (pus  for  milk). 

This  dreamer  has  not  yet  forgotten  his  nurse. 
Nearly  aU  his  dreams  are  concerned  with  the  nurse 
(cp.  in  the  chapter  on  Nurse  Dreams  the  dream  No. 
249).  Here  the  swelling  is  also  the  breast.  Thus, 
toe  have  a  transposition  from  below  upwards  and 
backwards.  In  this  connection  we  become  ac- 
quainted with  a  third  symbolic  parallelism:  Breast, 
thumb,  toe,  arm,  hand,  foot,  loin,  and  penis  must 
be  considered  equal  to  one  another.2 

The  patient's  mouth  is  his  erogenous  zone.  He 
is  a  "taster"  and  "mincer,"  he  likes  eatables  and  has 
a  refined  palate. 

Now  we  proceed  further  with  the  analysis. 

/  become  aware  of  a  flat  fleshly  growth  at  the  back 
of  my  head  and  I  reach  my  right  hand  back  to  it. 

Bearing  in  mind  the  displacement  from  below  we 
find  this  to  represent  a  touch  on  the  posterior  parts. 

1  Testicles  and  ears  should  also  be  added.    With  the  exception 
of  the  penis,  all  are  paired  organs. 


Displacement  143 

This  sort  of  contact  plays  an  important  role  in 
the  man's  rude  love  life.  Taking  into  consideration 
also  the  displacement  behind  (from  the  front),  the 
swelling  is  his  penis,  which  he  has  thus  touched  only 
too  often.  In  spite  of  his  39  years  of  age  he  is 
still  masturbating. 

/  don't  like  its  presence  there  and  I  reflect  hoit) 
best  to  get  rid  of  it.  This  part  of  the  dream  reveals 
the  dreamer's  "psychic  hermaphroditism."  He 
would  prefer  to  have  no  penis.  He  would  like  to 
be  a  woman.  Castrations  phantasies  have  played 
an  important  role  in  his  mental  life.  .  .  . 

The  further  course  of  the  dream  portrays  a  mas- 
turbatory  act  which  was  always  a  "milking"  to  him. 
He  is  the  wet  nurse  who  is  being  "milked."  This 
betrays  his  fellatio  phantasy.3  Puellae  publicae 
have  repeatedly  carried  out  fellatio  on  him.  But  the 
wish  refers  specificially  to  fellatio  by  a  man  (his 
friend  J.  L.). 

A  further  condensation  is  proven  by  the  recall 
of  a  serious  gonorrheal  infection.  For  a  long  time 
squeezing  the  urethra  brought  forth  suppuration 
and  for  a  time,  also  blood.  He  used  cotton  at  the 
time  to  avoid  spotting  the  linen;  the  handkerchief, 
after  masturbating  (Selbstbefleckung). 

J.  L.'s  offering  to  go  down  is  the  critical  point. 
He  must  go  down  (hinuntergehen)  and  replace  the 
"Watta"  (he  called  his  father  "Atta")  with  his 
*He  plays  both  r61es:  nurse  and  nursling. 


144  Sex  and  Dreams 

hand  and  with  his  mouth.  In  this  treatment  I  play 
the  role  of  J.  L.  and  the  father.  I  am  his  friend 
and  father.  The  continuation  of  the  dream  clearly 
discloses  scatological  phantasies.  I  am  preoccu- 
pied with  his  filth.  He  wants  to  preoccupy  himself 
with  mine. 

The  "chamber  pot"  of  J.  L.  is  the  latter's  wife. 
(Moltke's  cynical  expression:  woman  is  a  w.  c. !). 
That  is  why  he  does  not  want  to  be  seen  in  the  act. 
Naturally  the  well-known  infantile  constellation  of 
associations  are  roused  at  this  point.  The  plan 
of  the  room  is  really  that  of  his  nursery.  The  first 
traumatic  incidents  take  place  in  that  room.  (The 
preoccupation  with  the  chamber  pot  and  the  cotton 
as  sanitary  napkin.) 

Here  I  discontinue  the  analysis.  I  merely  wanted 
to  illustrate  the  problem  of  displacement. 

Let  us  now  analyze  another  example  of  a  dis- 
placement upwards  (from  below). 

(34)  I  visited  relatives.  Although  it  was  Sum- 
mer I  wore  a  winter  coat.  I  expected  to  find  father 
there.  As  I  stepped  in  I  saw  mother  in  the  place. 
As  she  was  the  first  one  sitting  nearest  the  door  1 
greeted  her.  Then  I  saw  father.  I  greeted  him  and 
kissed  his  hand.  Thought  the  relatives  will  imagine 
J  am  doing  it  under  compulsion  only  because  I  am 
in  their  presence.  In  fact  I  had  to  force  myself  to 
do  it.  I  am  struck  with  "father's  red  swollen  hand 
which  I  find  repulsive  and  unpleasant  to  kiss. 


Displacement  145 

He  enters  the  parental  home  (visit  to  relatives). 
He  hates  the  father  yet  must  show  himself  cordial 
towards  him.  He  should  be  warm,  instead  of  that 
he  is  freezing, — that  is  the  meaning  of  his  wearing 
the  winter  coat  in  Summer  time  (scornful  love). 
The  mother  is  at  the  door.  Transposition.  He 
was  first  at  the  (mother's)  door.  That  is  why  he 
greets  her  first  and  the  father  afterwards.  He  com- 
pels himself  to  feel  affection.  The  red,  swollen  hand 
inspires  him  with  disgust.  That  feeling  of  disgust 
rouses  our  suspicion.  We  now  find  out  that  he 
loves  his  father  as  much  as  he  hates  him.  The  red 
swollen  hand  is  the  red  swollen  (erect)  penis  (dis- 
placement from  below).  "Er  soil  den  Penis  kusseri" 
— "he  is  kissing  the  penis," — that  is  a  reference  to 
his  suppressed  perversion,  to  carry  on  fellatio  with 
a  man.  In  fact,  this  craving  is  shown  in  other 
dreams  very  plainly  and  without  any  masking. 

Here,  as  in  the  previous  dream,  we  find  a  remark- 
able displacement.  There  the  intimation  was  raised 
that  Dr.  Stekel  may  feel  ashamed.  Here  another 
thought  is  ascribed  to  the  relatives:  "They  may 
think  I  do  this  under  coercion!"  Both  processes 
are  displacements.  In  the  first  instance  the  feeling 
of  shame  because  he  has  to  tell  me  such  things  ("all 
such  filth")  is  transferred  upon  me.  In  the  latter 
instance  the  dreamer's  own  feeling  of  untruthfulness 
and  insincerity  is  ascribed  to  the  relatives.  "They 
may  think!"  The  displacement  of  the  affect 


146  Sex  and  Dreams 

(Affektverschiebivngen)  and  the  transference  of  the 
affect  (Affektubertragungen)  are  processes  to 
which  we  will  have  frequently  occasion  to  refer. 

A  patient  dreams : 

(35 )  A  palace  of  the  high  tower  and  a  park  and 
a  lodge  of  Baron  Rosenfeld.  In  the  park  I  find 
Rosenfeld,  Jr.  and  speak  with  him.  I  fett  in  love 
with  him. 

Analysis:  The  dream  is  vain  worship  and  ad- 
miration of  Baron  Rosenfeld.  Buti  the  Jewish  name 
is  enough  to  awaken  our  suspicion.  The  dreamer 
is  sure  this  is  a  reference  to  Baroness  Rosenfeld,  an 
old  nobility.  But  further  associations  prove  his 
assurance  false.  Palais  brings  to  his  mind  that  the 
word  is  expressly  pronounced  Palaiss,  "ein  paar 
Laus"  (a  pair  of  lice)  ;  Park  evokes  the  name  of  a 
Jewish  horse  dealer,  Parcheles  ("Parch"  is  a  Jewish 
slurring  expression  for  "Grindkopf,"  bald  pate; 
"Zinshaus"  suggests  to  his  mind  Zins,  meaning  here, 
Zmsen — that  is,  usury.  Auf  der  hohen  Warte  (the 
high  watch  tower)  :  the  young  Rosenfeld,  who  owns 
a  villa  auf  der  hohen  Warte,  too,  is  a  "Parch"  (bald 
pate)  in  his  dream.  Ich  war  ganz  verliebt  in  ihm — 
I  was  wholly  smitten  on  him, — expresses  the  deepest 
scorn  and  is  intended  to  cover  the  feeling:  "what  a 
fresh,  arrogant,  unbearable  Jewish  boy!"  The 
dream  is  a  dream  of  revenge  against  his  physician 
and  the  latter's  son.  The  phantasies  of  revenge  are 
due  to  unrequited  love.  He  is,  in  fact,  in  love  with 


Interpretation  147 

the  son  (symbol  for  the  penis, — "the  little  one!"). 
He  does  not  want  to  pay  any  more  without  com- 
pensation in  the  form  of  physical  love. 

But  the  dream  must  also  have  a  meaning  in  the 
positive  sense.  He  loves  Baron  Rosenfeld.  This 
path  leads  us  to  another  symbolism:  the  palace,  like 
every  dwelling,  i»  the  symbol  for  the  body.  The 
park  stands  for  the  hairy  growth  around  the  gen- 
itals. The  son  is  the  phallic  symbol,  already  well 
known  to  us.  The  hohe  Warte, — high  tower,  is 
therefore  a  reference  to  the  act  of  erection.  Speak- 
ing corresponds  to  the  sexual  act.  And  the  Zins- 
haus, — the  lodge? 

Before  discussing  that  more  minutely  we  must 
refer  again  to  the  second  symbolic  parallelism 
(which  we  may  call  S.  P.  II). 

This  parallelism  requires  restatement  in  broader 
terms,  as  follows:  All  secretions  and  excreta,  also 
blood,  urine,  pus,  water  are  equal  to  each  other  in 
the  dream  (and  in  the  unconscious).  They  are  also 
to  be  considered  equivalent  to  the  soul,  air,  (breath- 
flatus),  speech,  money  and  poison. 

Bethe  (Die  Dorische  Knabenliebe,  Rheinisches 
Museum,  vol.  LXII,  1902;  cp.  my  extensive  abstract 
in  the  Zentralblatt  f.  Psychoanalyse,  1910,  vol.  I. 
No.  1-2)  brings  up  many  examples  proving  that  ac- 
cording to  primitive  conceptions  man  looked  upon 
his  various  secretions  and  excreta  as  containing  the 
soul.  The  vital  power  resided  for  him  in  the  urine, 


148  Sex  and  Dreams 

excrement,  blood,  or  spermatic  fluid.  With  the  lat- 
ter the  soul  was  introduced  into  the  body. 

The  language  of  the  people  also  takes  cognizance 
of  such  a  relationship.  Blood,  for  instance,  stands 
for  gold.4  A  usurer  is  a  blood-sucker;  one  bleeds 
for  another  when  becoming  poor  for  his  sake.  To 
pump  means  to  borrow  money.  A  man  is  said  to  be 
"pumped  out"  (ausgepumpter  Mensch),  that  is, 
spent,  when  he  is  impotent.  The  Gulden  (monetary 
unit,  therefore,  money)  is  called  Spiess  or  Speer 
also  the  penis.  Similarly  "gun"  means  money  and 
phallus.5 

Every  fluid  assumes  this  equation:  Milk,  oil,  pe- 
troleum, tears,  etc.  In  the  seven  volumes  of  An- 
thropophyteia  there  are  numerous  examples  of  this 
S.  P.  II.  Indeed,  the  penis  is  directly  designated  as 
money  ( Anthropophyteia,  vol.  VI.,  p.  15)  or  oil  is 
spermatic  fluid  (ibid.,  p.  9).  Ejaculation  means: 
the  penis  is  vomiting  (Anthropophyteia,  vol.  I.,  p. 
146),  or  is  spitting  (ibid.,  vol.  I.,  p.  74,  142,  143, 
144).  Elsewhere:  the  penis  weeps  (Anthropophy- 
teia, vol.  I.,  p.  364)  Einem  Mddchen  in  die  Miitze 
spucken, — spit  a  girl  in  the  v  .  .  . ,  (literally  bon- 
net, or  cap),  for  coitus,  etc. 

If  we  apply  S.  P.  II  here,  Zins  stands  for  sper- 
matic fluid.  The  act  of  speaking  refers  to  the  par- 

4  In  the  fairy  story  about  Little  Meta  blood  drops  turn  into 
golden  ducats.  The  analogy  with  the  Ducatenscheisser  and 
with  the  Golden  Ass  at  once  suggest  themselves. 

•The  bride  receives  a  gift. 


Symbolic  Parallels  149 

ticipation  of  the  mouth,  as  an  important  erogenous 
zone,  in  the  love  act  portrayed  by  the  dream.  He 
dreams  of  himself  in  the  role  of  a  loving  girl.  His 
hatred  wakes  in  him  the  male  energies  (Adler). 
Love  makes  him  a  woman.  The  dream  (like  all 
dreams)  is  bisexual. 

I  want  to  show  here  some  other  forms  of  trans- 
position (Umkehrung). 

First  a  dream  of  Mrs.  Alpha. 

The  Dream  of  the  Suffocating  Child 

(36)  A  strange  child  comes  to  me.  It  looks 
badly  and  gazes  at  me  with  sad  eyes.  I  let  it  come 
to  the  table  and  give  it  food.  The  child  devours  an 
unbelievably  large  amount  and  seems  to  be  getting 
satiated.  One  can  see  the  eating  does  it  good,  its 
face  livens  up  and  rounds  out  and  I  am  pleased  over 
it.  Suddenly  the  child  begins  to  choke  and  I  no- 
tice that  a  bite  is  sticking  in  its  throat.  It  turns 
blue  in  the  face,  its  eyes  pop  out  and  to  my  con- 
sternation I  see  the  child  in  greatest  danger  of  suf- 
focating. The  child  turns  to  me  for  help  in  its  ter- 
rible distress.  I  know  there  is  no  one  nearby  on 
whom  I  can  call.  If  only  Dr.  Stekel  were  here! 
What  shall  I  do?  Any  minute  the  child  may  stran- 
gle to  death.  Determinedly  I  pry  open  the  child's 
mouth,  in  spite  of  the  child's  struggles,  and  I  see  a 
great  piece  of  meat  sticking  in  its  throat,  but  so  far 
down  that  I  do  not  think  it  possible  to  reach  it  with 
my  fingers.  There  is  a  cooking  spoon  on  the  table; 


150  Sex  and  Dreams 

I  grab  that  quickly  and  ram  it  with  courage  down 
the  child's  throat,  so  as  to  at  least  push  down  the 
obstruction.  On  withdrawing  the  spoon  I  find  it 
streaked  with  blood  and  I  am  not  a  little  scared  that 
I  hurt  the  child.  But  the  child  regains  its  natural 
color,  breathes  quietly  and  does  not  seem  in  pain.  I 
am  glad  but,  still  uneasy  over  the  child's  silence,  I 
press  it  to  say  something,  I  want  to  know  whether 
it  is  in  pain.  Then  the  child  calls  out  twice  in 
succession:  Papa!  and  I  wake  up  from  my 
dream. 

Analysis:  A  wonderfully  well  carried  out  dis- 
placement from  below.  The  "strange"  child  she 
would  feed  is  her  vagina ;  6  "sitting  at  the  table," 
means  lying  in  bed.  The  "starving  child"  at  last 
gets  "meat."  Further,  the  phantasy  is  of  a  gigan- 
tic phallus  which  gets  stuck. 

How  nice  it  must  be  to  be  able  to  help!  is  a  refer- 
ence to  me.  I  must  solve  her  sexual  misery. 

These  transparent  phantasies  are  linked  with  rem- 
iniscences about  masturbation,  in  which  the  "finger" 
cannot  reach  the  "child"  and  various  objects  (cook- 
ing spoon)  substitute  the  penis.  Finally  the  dream 
reveals  the  transference.  The  child  calls  for  papa! 
It  wants  a  father,  ( father,  again  in  the  sense  of  gen- 
erating father — hast  a  virilis).  But  the  true  father, 

•A  common  symbolism:  the  child  or  "the  little  one,"  (male 
or  female)  for  the  genital  organ.  Further  details  in  the 
chapter  on  The  Rdle  of  Relatives  in  Dreams. 


Symbolic  Parallels  151 

too,  plays  a  great  role  in  the  neurosis — as  well  as 
the  phantasy  of  fellatio,  in  which  the  child  repre- 
sents the  mouth. 

The  patient  had  quit  eating  meat  for  some  months 
past.  She  has  the  fear  (which  naturally  corre- 
sponds to  a  wish)  that  "the  meat  might  stick  in  her 
throat." 

The  onanistic  manipulations  ("I  shove  it  in  lively 
— I  push  it  in")  are  often  accompanied  by  such  re- 
actions of  nausea.  The  masturbation  is  linked  with 
various  incest  phantasies  ("The  child  cried  out 
'papa !'  twice")  during  two  periods :  before  the  tenth 
year,  and  after  the  onset  of  puberty.  Once  she  in- 
jured herself  during  the  act.  Now  "fear  has  re- 
pressed in  her  the  love."  (Cp.  the  dream  of  the 
telephone,  No.  13.)  Masturbation  was  always  vig- 
orously indulged  in  and  sometimes  carried  on  until 
orgasm  was  attained  twice  ("The  child  cried  out 
'papa!'  twice"). 

The  "psychic  hermaphroditism"  is  strikingly  dis- 
played. She  shows  that  she  could  behave  energeti- 
cally, "like  a  man,"  if  a  strange  woman  entreated 
love.  ("How  nice  it  would  be  to  help  others,  if 
I  were  a  physician")  She  helped  so  energetically 
that  she  hurt  the  child.  She  is  a  "different  kind  of 
man"  than  her  physician.  She  knows  at  once  what 
the  trouble  was  with  the  distressed  child.  She  iden- 
tifies herself  with  her  "papa"  who  is  a  well-known 
and  skillful  surgeon. 


152  Sex  and  Dreams 

The  displacement  may  go  so  far  that  there  are 
dreams  which  should  be  read  in  a  reverse  sense. 

Freud  once  remarked  at  a  meeting  of  the  Vienna 
Psychoanalytic  Society  that  there  are  dreams  which 
can  be  seen  only  in  that  sense.7  I  record  here- 
with such  a  dream  of  Miss  Etta,  especially  as  it 
shows  also  other  important  features. 

(37 )  1  I  found  myself  in  a  gigantic,  castle-like, 
theatrical  building  and  dimly  witnessed  a  represen- 
tation. 

2  Then  I  climbed  some  gigantic  stairway  in  that 
building  and  I  perceived  Mr.  X.  as  he  loomed  into 
view  a  few  times  and  wondered  that  he  lived  here. 
I   greeted   him   cordially,   he   answered   curtly   and 
coolly  and  I  thought  to  myself:     "I  must  put  an 
end  to  that,  he  doesn't  do  anything  for  me  anyway." 

3  Then  I  held  in  my  right  hand  a  crumpled  up 
white  paper,  a  white  apple  in  my  left  hand  and  I  en- 
tered a  room.     The  folks  there  wanted  to  take  the 
apple  from,  me  and  I  fooled  them  with  the   ball- 
shaped  paper.     I  talked  haltingly  and  hysterically 
when  I  told  the  Rosen  woman  (an  actress)  about  it 
and  thought:    "7  don't  really  do  it  well,  it  should 
go  smoother, — I  don't  put  my  whole  self  into  the 
task" — And   further:    "if   I    can't    protect    myself 

T Artemidoros  states:  "When  interpreting  the  story  of  a 
dream  one  must  look  it  over  from  beginning  to  end  and  again 
from  the  end  backwards  towards  the  beginning.  For  it  may 
happen  that  the  beginning  clears  up  the  vague  and  not  easily 
penetrable  end,  or  the  reverse  may  be  the  case,  etc." 


Reverse  Sense  153 

against  those  people,  I'll  simply  strike  my  brow  a 
blow  and  wake  up." 

4  Then  I  sat   on  a  window  sill,   next   to  Dr. 
Stekel's  grown  up  son  and  later  next  to  himself.     I 
held  the  son  in  tight  embrace.     "Aha,"  said  Dr. 
Stekel  laughing — "again  a  bit   of  homosexuality." 
Then  I  let  go  of  the  young  man. 

5  And  now  I  was  at  N's.     A  red-haired  girl  sat 
next  to  me  and  I  thought  she  was  Rudolph's  relative 
and  present  lover.     Her  hair  was  deranged  on  one 
side  and  I  thought  he  surely  had  kissed  her  there. — 
Then  she  stepped  out  and  I  was  impatient  to  be 
alone  with  Mrs.  N.     Her  husband  sat  mutely  at  the 
table.     I  jumped  at  her,  threw  my  arms  around  her 
and  hissed  between  my  clenched  teeth:    "/  am  al- 
ways thinking  of  him  kissing  her  and  I  cannot  bear 
it.     I  won't  stand  for  it! — That  red-haired  scare- 
crow!"    Next  I  had  thrown  myself,  weeping  and  ex- 
hausted, on  a  divan.     Rudolf  was  there,   also  the 
red-haired  girl;   Rudolf  said   to   me:   "/  love  you 
stitt,  though  not  as  formerly."     Horrified  I  jumped 
up  so  that  he  should  not  see  my  tears. 

6  Next  clad  in  white  I  walked  through  a  garden 
feeling  bitterly  cold.     Karl  went  a  little  ways  along 
and  I  tried  unostentatiously  to  snuggle  up  to  him; 
that  warmed  me  up  at  once  but, — I  thought  to  my- 
self,— it  was  not  nice,  and  mother  was  also  angry 
about  it;  so  I  walked  on  aU  alone  and  my  teeth  clat- 
tered with  the  cold. 


154  Sex  and  Dreams 

The  dream  gives  an  account  of  her  life  history 
and  begins  with  a  phantasy  regarding  the  future; 
we  must  read  it  backwards  in  order  to  understand 
it.  In  her  childhood  she  had  a  little  erotic  adven- 
ture with  a  young  boy  (Karl).  She  was  twelve 
years  of  age  and  suffered  terribly  of  chills ;  a  typical 
symptom  of  anxiety  neurosis,  and  particularly  of 
sexual  expectancy.  A  boy  lodger,  who  lived  in  their 
house,  fourteen  years  of  age,  came  for  a  number  of 
weeks  to  her  bed,  kissed  her  (without  doing  anything 
more  to  her)  until  the  mother  caught  him  at  it  and 
ordered  him  out  of  the  house.  The  episode  about  the 
white  dress  (innocence)  and  the  freezing,  refers  to 
that  experience.  Six  years  previously  she  was  en- 
gaged to  a  young  man,  a  musician  (Rudolph),  who 
after  a  few  weeks  confessed  to  her  that  he  did  not 
know  what  to  do,  he  was  unhappy,  he  did  not  love 
her  as  formerly.  She  looked  upon  the  red-haired 
girl  who  was  more  to  him  in  the  dream  than  she  her- 
self as  the  cause  of  his  cooling  off.  Events  similar 
to  those  portrayed  in  the  dream  had  actually  oc- 
curred. The  man  who  sits  silently  at  the  table  and 
cannot  help  her,  is  her  father  who  is  dead  and  whom 
she  loved  with  supreme  devotion.  She  became  seri- 
ously neurotic  on  account  of  going  through  these  ex- 
periences and  came  to  me  for  treatment.  How  she 
fancies  the  cure  in  this  dream  is  portrayed  in  the 
fourth  part  of  it:  she  holds  in  strong  embrace  my 
grown-up  son  (one  I  do  not  actually  have).  The 


Reverse  Sense  155 

son  is  naturally  my  erect  phallus  (the  patient  al- 
ways has  the  feeling  that  something  ponderous  is 
about  to  descend  upon  her,  or  that  she  is  about  to 
fill  out  something  big;  when  she  opens  her  eyes  and 
gazes  up  to  the  sky,  she  regrets  that  her  eyes  are  too 
small  to  take  in  the  whole  expanse  of  the  sky).  I 
was  able  to  prove  repeatedly  her  homosexual  inclina- 
tions,— among  them  also  a  certain  inclination  to- 
wards my  wife.  A  form  of  transference,  but  little 
studied  thus  far,  is  the  transference  upon  the  physi- 
cian's family,  which  plays  a  tremendous  role.  Even 
my  little  dog  thus  became  the  object  of  a  transfer- 
ence as  the  result  of  a  displacement  from  the  physi- 
cian to  a  member  of  the  household.  But  the  fact 
that  in  the  dream  I  goad  her  about  her  homosexual- 
ity has  a  particular  significance.  I  do  not  act  like 
a  man,  I  am  a  woman,  for  I  give  her  no  opportunity 
to  clasp  tightly  my  son.  Consequently,  now,  after 
her  recovery,  she  again  thinks  of  marriage ;  the  third 
part  of  the  dream  refers  to  that.  The  crumpled  up 
white  paper  in  her  right  hand,  which,  as  she  after- 
wards recollects,  many  persons  are  trying  to  grab,  is 
the  marriage  certificate.  She  does  not  yield  to  any 
one  the  white  apple  which  she  holds  in  her  left  hand 
— later  she  thought  the  apple  might  have  been  red — 
until  the  paper  has  been  first  accepted,  i.  e.,  she  can 
be  possessed  only  by  way  of  the  altar.  She  is  not 
satisfied  with  herself,  she  has  found  as  yet  no  suit- 
able substitute  for  her  lost  lover:  sie  legt  sich  nlcht 


156  Sex  and  Dreams 

ordentlich  Iwnein — she  does  not  put  her  whole  self 
into  it.8  Naturally  we  find  here  also  (Anspiel- 
wngen)  references  to  masturbation,  the  latter  bear 
ing  a  certain  definite  relationship  to  hysteria.  The 
last  statement  in  this  portion  of  the  dream  reveals 
tragic  thoughts  ("if  I  can't  protect  myself  against 
these  people  I'll  simply  strike  my  brow  a  blow  and 
wake  up").  She  is  firmly  determined,  should  she  give 
in  to  her  overpowering  cravings,  i.  e.,  in  an  extra- 
legal  manner,  without  marriage  certificate,  promptly 
to  shoot  herself  the  next  day.  She  will  simply  press 
the  revolver  against  her  forehead  and  never  wake 
up  again  or,  rather,  wake  up  in  heaven;  i.  e.,  then 
only  will  her  real  life  begin, — while  the  revolver 
phantasy  represents  also  a  phantasy  of  playing 
with  the  penis,  the  phantasy  which  introduces  the 
fourth  part  of  her  dream. 

For  she  has  become  acquainted  with  new  moral 
standards ;  a  friendly  actress  thought  one  could  not 
become  an  opera  singer  with  her  antiquated  views. 
She  is  a  singer  and  expects  to  join  the  opera  stage 
within  a  year.  Finally  she  climbs  up  a  certain 
height  from  which  she  is  able  to  disregard  some  of 
the  moral  handicaps.  She  sees  X.,  the  agent,  loom- 

•She  is  a  man.  That  is  why  she  can  "put  herself  in."  Only 
in  that  sense  does  my  accusing  her  of  homosexuality  become 
intelligible.  She  shows  me  in  this  dream  wie  sie  sick  "hinein~ 
legen"  vriirde,  if  she  were  a  man.  The  agent  X.,  that  brutal, 
cynical  man,  would  count  for  a  bashful  fellow  in  contrast  with 
her.  (Psychic  hermcvphroditism) .  In  the  end  she  triumphs. 
She  is  above  (Adler), 


Interpretation  157 

ing  up,  a  man  who  anyway  does  not  seem  to  her 
energetic  enough ;  although  she  greets  him  cordially 
he  acknowledges  the  greeting  curtly  and  seems  not 
to  care  for  her.  Her  waking  dream  thoughts  are 
preoccupied  with  an  unmotivated  fear  of  this  man's 
raw  conduct,  a  behavior  on  account  of  which  he  is 
distrusted  by  all  actresses.  Here  in  this  dream  he 
behaves  with  unusual  decency.  That  much  she  has 
already  accomplished  with  her  exercises  in  climbing 
the  gigantic  stairway.  And  finally  she  accom- 
plishes her  end,  she  is  an  actress,  and  has  a  dim 
vision  of  the  unfettered  life  of  an  actress. 

Part  I  contains  also  a  remarkable  experience  dat- 
ing back  to  her  earliest  years.  The  first  activities 
of  childhood  take  place  mostly  in  a  "Hoftheater" 
(Court  Theater).  The  memory  of  it  is  unclear  and 
contains  a  dim  prophecy  of  the  future:  she  is  now 
an  actress  at  the  Court  theater.  .  .  . 


VII 


DREAM    MASKS    DISPLACEMENT    AND    FUSION    

THE       BEAVE       SERVANT       CRIMINAL       ( ASOCIAL ) 

INSTINCTS 


Wie  im  Auge  ein  Punkt  ist,  der  nicht  sieht,  so  ist 
in  jeder  Seele  ein  dunkler  Punkt,  der  den  Keim  des 
innern  Verderbens  enthalt. 

[As  the  eye  has  its  blind  spot,  so  in  the  depths  of 
every  one's  soul  there  is  a  dark  spot  which  is  the 
center  of  all  inner  corruption.} 

Feuchtersleben 


VII 

Displacement  and  fusion  are  among  the  means  re- 
vealed by  Freud  as  part  of  the  process  of  dream 
distortion.  Some  dreams  represent  a  murderer. 
The  analysis  discloses  that  the  dreamer  harbors 
thoughts  of  murder  and  revenge  and  that  he  is  en- 
deavoring to  repress  these  unpleasant  tendencies. 
The  dream  ascribes  these  evil  impulses  to  some  other 
person.  We  note  further  that  in  the  dream  a  per- 
son is  the  composite  of  a  number  of  persons.  This 
process  is  called  "fusion"  by  Freud. 

We  are  introducing  now  a  very  instructive  illus- 
tration. It  is  a  so-called  "first"  dream ;  that  is,  the 
first  dream  which  a  neurotic  patient  brought  up 
when  submitting  to  analysis.  These  first  dreams 
are  very  important.  Usually  they  have  some  bear- 
ing on  the  relations  between  the  patient  and  the 
analyst  and  as  a  rule  they  portray  the  whole  pic- 
ture of  the  neurosis. 

Mr.  Theta's  dream  is  as  follows : 

(38)  I  placed  on  watch  within  my  room,  at  the 
left  of  the  door,  a  policeman  who  I  knew  had  a  re- 
volver. At  the  left,  beyond  his  observation  post, 
there  was  a  box  but  that  was  not  enough  to  cover 

161 


162  Sex  and  Dreams 

Mm  from  exposure  to  the  outside.  I  had  placed 
him  there  for  protection  against  any  one  breaking 
in.  I  reflected:  it  would  be  unpleasant  for  me  to  be 
the  first  to  get  in  there.  I  must  send  some  one 
ahead.  Then  I  thought:  I  could  take  along  a  serv- 
ant or  some  acquaintance  if  need  be,  otherwise  I 
should  have  to  go  in.  It  occurred  to  me  that  he 
who  would  break  in  first  might  be  shot  by  the  watch- 
man. But  the  thought  flashed  through  my  mind 
only  for  a  second. 

A  second  dream  comes  to  the  subject's  mind  in  a 
supplementary  way: 

(39)  There  was  a  great  fire.  I  went  to  the  wall. 
The  wall  was  so  low,  I  jumped  on  top  of  it. 

This  dream  portrays  various  emotions.  First  the 
fear  of  some  one  breaking  in,  obviously  a  dream  spe- 
cifically "feminine."  Secondly,  the  fear  of  the  po- 
liceman. Thirdly,  the  dread  of  being  the  first  "to 
get  in"  and  fourthly,  concern  over  what  will  happen 
to  the  servant. 

We  allow  the  subject  to  give  his  associations  to 
"policeman."  In  his  childhood  an  officer  stood  for 
the  personality  requiring  highest  respect.  When- 
ever he  misbehaved  he  was  threatened  with  "police- 
man." He  still  has  an  unpleasant  feeling  whenever 
he  meets  an  officer,  whether  policeman  or  gen- 
darme, as  if  he  were  guilty  of  some  wrong  doing. 
But  he  also  feels  himself  innocent.  He  has  done 
nothing  wrong. 


Fusion  163 

This  occurrence,  this  dread  of  officials  and  repre- 
sentatives of  law,  is  fairly  common  among  neurotics. 
It  betrays  an  uneasy  conscience  to  some  extent. 

That  is  also  the  case  with  our  subject.  The  high 
"policeman"  here  is  the  father  whom  he  fears:  er 
konnte  ihm  auf  seine  Streiche  kommen, — he  might 
catch  him  at  his  pranks.  All  "watchful"  persons 
may  appear  in  the  dream  as  "policemen."  The  hus- 
band (in  the  case  of  a  woman)  or  the  wife  (in  the 
case  of  a  man),  the  strict  governess,  the  tutor,  the 
overseer,  etc.  At  this  point  the  subject  is  led  by 
his  association  to  the  person  claiming  his  highest 
esteem:  the  father.  Formerly  his  father  had 
watched  him  very  rigorously.  An  episode  dating 
back  to  his  third  year  strangely  comes  to  his  mind. 
He  was  lying  in  his  father's  bed  when  he  suddenly 
came  in  touch  with  the  membrum  in  a  high  state  of 
erection.  He  seized  it  to  play  with  it.  But  his 
father  woke  up  and  called  severely  to  him:  "what 
are  you  doing?"  These  are  also  the  words  with 
which  a  policeman  accosted  him  once  when  he  started 
to  pluck  some  roses  surreptitiously  in  a  garden. 

But, — to  return  to  his  further  associations.  He 
was  strongly  under  the  influence  of  a  certain  woman, 
a  friend  of  his  father's  whom  they  called  "aunt." 
This  "aunt"  watched  over  him  very  carefully  and 
saw  to  it  that  he  always  kept  his  hands  in  sight. 
She,  too,  called  out  to  him:  "what  are  you  doing?" 
one  morning  when  she  caught  him  masturbating. 


164  Sex  and  Dreams 

"Policeman"  also  reminds  him  that  he  was  par- 
ticularly fond  of  an  uncle,  too,  named  Franz.  The 
latter  was  a  physician  and  died  of  syphilis.  It  oc- 
curs to  him  further  that  there  was  another  Franz,  a 
man  who  shot  himself,  and  finally,  a  third  Franz, 
his  own  brother. 

We  thus  note  that  the  policeman  in  the  dream  is  a 
composite  figure  consisting  of  a  number  of  real  per- 
sons fused  together.  Thus  far  we  find  that  the  fig- 
ure consists  of:  "policeman,'*  as  representative  of 
the  law,  the  father,  the  aunt,  the  brother  and  two 
uncles,  of  whom  one  was  a  physician.  It  is  always 
safe  to  surmise  that  the  first  dream  has  some  bear- 
ing on  the  subject's  relation  to  the  analyst.  The 
policeman  also  stands  for  me.  But  this  theme  we 
shall  take  up  later.  The  policeman  seems  to  bear 
strongest  resemblance  to  the  brother. 

We  are  informed  about  the  recent  dream  inciters. 
They  are  rather  significant.  While  here  he  lives 
with  his  brother.  He  has  been  here  two  days.  A 
sister  of  his  brother's  wife,  a  very  pretty  girl,  a 
student  at  the  Conservatory,  also  rooms  there.  She 
is  preparing  herself  for  the  stage.  She  is  rather 
a  flirt.  Now  he  discloses  some  of  his  phantasies. 
He  expects  to  remain  in  Vienna  several  weeks.  It 
occurred  to  him:  "you  could  start  something  with 
the  sister-in-law's  sister!"  But  another  thought 
made  this  unpleasant:  "suppose  your  brother 
catches  you  at  it!"  Also:  "suppose  she  is  virgo 


Dream  Thought  165 

intacta?"  That  would  make  it  most  unpleasant  for 
him;  hence  the  dream  thought:  "I  reflected,  it 
would  be  unpleasant  for  me  to  be  the  first  one  to 
get  in." 

He  is  extremely  mistrusting.  He  is  suspicious 
(in  his  unconscious)  of  all  his  relatives.  He  no- 
tices that  his  brother  is  very  cordial  towards  his 
sister-in-law.  Can  it  be  that  the  latter  maintains 
an  affair  with  her?  The  sister-in-law  is  represented 
by  the  "box"  in  the  dream.  Box,  trunk,  chest, 
drawer,  cabinet,  furniture  (old  furniture,),  table, 
also  room,  are  often  symbols  for  woman  (German, 
Fraitenzimmer!).  The  box  is  at  the  brother's  left. 
That  designation  has  a  certain  meaning  as  we  shall 
see  later.  It  indicates  the  forbidden  character  of 
the  relationship.  The  expression  "not  enough  to 
cover  him  from  exposure  to  the  outside"  refers  to 
that  fact;  it  means  that  he  has  been  able  to  see 
through.  There  is  no  cover  possible  for  that  affair. 
The  above  expression,  in  the  original,  "durch  den  er 
aber  nach  aussen  gegen  Sicht  nicht  gedeckt  war" 
includes  the  terms  Sicht  (sight)  and  DecJcung 
(cover),  each  carrying  a  double  meaning.  A  draft 
at  sight  must  be  honored,  i.  e.,  covered  at  once.1 
Draft,  German,  Wechsel,  literally,  a  change;  his 
brother  has  drawn  a  Wechsel,  i.  e.,  carried  out,  or 
made  a  change  from  the  wife  to  the  sister-in-law. 
He,  too,  wants  to  love  her,  like  his  brother. 
1  Cover,  Decken,  bedecken — begatten,  impregnating. 


166  Sex  and  Dreams 

The  brother  is  frequently  a  symbol  for  the  penis. 
Particularly  the  younger  brother.  This  is  true 
here.  Now  we  understand  why  he  sets  up — aufsteUt 
— the  policeman  twice  and  what  that  individual 
stands  for.  It  is  a  scornful  representation, — a  dis- 
placement. He  turns  the  aggression  into  an  act  of 
protection.  That  is  a  common  occurrence  in 
dreams.  The  dreamer  protects  himself  against  in- 
truders and  robbers  with  canes,  umbrellas,  or  re- 
volvers,— all  symbols  for  the  membrum.  That  is 
the  manner  in  which  homosexual  acts  are  repre- 
sented. 

This  dream  is  bisexual  and  so  are  all  dreams,  a 
fact  which  has  been  pointed  out  by  Alfred  Adler  2 
in  particular.  It  discloses  sexual  intentions  with 
reference  to  the  brother  and  the  first  intimation  of 
a  leaning  towards  me,  or  transference.  The  female 
in  the  dream  seeks  male  ideals.  The  male  symbolizes 
his  heterosexual  objective  as  "room**  and  as  "box." 

In  the  dream  he  must  send  some  one  into  the  room : 
a  servant.3  This  servant,  again,  is  his — penis.  All 
the  various  designations  for  servant,  Diener,  Knecht, 
Dienstbote,  Dienstmann,  DienstmadcJien,  or  Stubenr 
madchen  are  symbols  for  the  genitalia. 

In  his  Tagebuch  (Diary)  Goethe  refers  to  his 
membrum  virile  as  follows: 

*  Vid. :  Der  psyctiische  Hermaphroditismus  im  Leben  und  in 
der  Neurose.     Fortschritte  der  Medizin,  1910,  No.  16. 
'Servant  for  peniS,  vid.:  Anthropophyteia,  vol.  I,  p.  41. 


Bisexuality  167 

Und  wie  wir  oft  sodann  im  Raub  genossen 
Nach  Buhlenart  des  Ehftands  heilige  Rechtey 
Von  reifer  Saat  umwogt,  vom  Rohr  umschlossen, 
An  manchem  Unort,  wo  ich  mich  erfrechte, 
Wir  waren  augenbliclclich,  unverdrossen 
Und  wiederholt  bedient  vom  braven  Knechtel 
Verftuchter  Knecht,  wie  unerwecklich  liegst  du! 
Und  deinen  Herrn  urns  schonste  Gliick  betriigst 

du. 

Symbolism  can  hardly  express  itself  more  plainly. 
Thus  our  Dienstmann,  our  servant,  is  also  the  penis. 
It  is  a  clever  dream  distortion  to  ascribe  the  sin  to 
some  one  else  and  to  represent  one's  self  as  exposed 
to  the  danger.  "Or  some  acquaintance,  if  need  be," 
refers  to  the  charming  girl.  He  has  no  other  op- 
portunity for  coitus  and  hopes  auch  hier  nicht  un- 
gelegen  zu  Jcommen.  The  fear  that  the  brother  may 
be  displeased  is  expressed  in  the  phrase:  "The  first 
intruder — Eindringling — (to  be  taken  literally) 
might  be  shot  by  the  watchman!"  A  light  fear  of 
infection  also  enters  into  his  reflections.  One  of 
the  first  persons  that  occurred  to  him  associatively 
was  the  uncle  who  died  of  syphilis. 

The  heat  of  passion  is  indicated  by  the  notion  of 
a  great  fire:  "there  was  a  great  fire."  He  is  burn- 
ing within.  He  hopes  that  the  girl  is  in  the  same 
state.  The  difficulties  are  not  great,  there  is  lesser 


168  Sex  and  Dreams 

resistance  when  the  woman  is  also  burning  with  de- 
sire. He  jumps  on  toptof  the  low  wall  .  „  .  .  4 

The  dream-forming  unconscious  and  conscious 
thoughts  lead  us  thus  far.  But  the  dream  permits 
a  deeper  insight  into  this  subject's  conflicts.  Why 
the  fear  of  the  operation  of  law?  Has  he  committed 
no  crime? 

At  this  point  various  episodes  from  his  life  come 
to  surface  under  a  display  of  some  resistance.  On 
his  account  a  girl  once  became  pregnant  and 
on  his  advice  had  a  midwife  bring  on  an  abortion. 
He  was  worried  to  distraction  over  the  result  of 
the  operation  and  very  impatient.  He  wanted  to 
go  and  make  personal  inquiries  but  was  afraid  of 
serious  legal  complications.  Therefore  he  sent  a 
messenger  who  did  not  know  him  while  he  stood 
trembling  on  a  street  corner  waiting  for  the  answer. 
That  affair  left  him  for  a  time  somewhat  nervous 
and  with  a  certain  dread  of  legal  complications. 

But  the  affair  is  linked  to  various  other  episodes. 
He  had  once  a  liaison  with  a  married  woman  (box 
on  the  left  side)  who,  pressed  by  her  husband,  made 
a  confession.  On  that  occasion  he  feared  that  the 
jealous  husband  would  shoot  him.  After  that  the 
husband  watched  his  wife  at  every  step.  He  also 
communicated  with  that  woman  through  a  messen- 
ger. She,  too,  sent  a  messenger  to  him  to  ex- 

4  The  walls  also  symbolize  the  protective  defenses  raised  by 
the  phobia  against  the  criminal  tendencies.  Our  dreamer  is 
decidedly  criminal  in  his  trends. 


Dream  Thought  169 

plain  away  and  cancel  the  effect  of  a  letter  which 
she  had  written  bim  at  the  command  of  her  husband 
at  the  moment  when  she  made  her  confession. 

Another  episode  about  an  abortion  enters  into 
the  dream  thoughts.  Indeed,  his  fear  of  policemen 
and  gendarmes  was  not  unfounded.  The  affect  was 
derived  from  events  long  since  past.  It  arose  from 
a  guilty  conscience. 

Now  we  know  who  the  policeman  is.  The  subject 
feels  he  must  watch  out  for  himself.  It  is  an  in- 
stance of  so-called  "split  personality" ;  we  shall  have 
opportunity  to  refer  to  a  number  of  similar  cases. 
He  must  look  out  sharply  and  guard  himself.  He 
must  protect  himself  against  his  lower  instincts, 
against  his  secret  cravings. 

Indeed,  he  has  another  reason  for  watching  him- 
self most  carefully  and  for  holding  himself  under 
control.  During  the  last  few  years  he  has  had  to 
fight  down  within  himself  strong  murder  impulses 
against  his  chief  (he  is  a  post  office  clerk)  because 
he  has  been  twice  denied  promotion.  His  chief  has 
a  large  bald  pate.  For  some  time  he  has  been  un- 
able to  meet  a  bald  pate  without  reflecting  how  con- 
venient it  would  be  to  knock  it  with  a  club.  His 
father,  too,  has  a  large  bald  pate.  Here  is  revealed 
his  deepest  conflict.  His  father  and  he  once  went 
after  the  same  woman  and  his  father,  a  vigorous 
widower  with  a  better  social  position,  came  out  the 


170  Sex  and  Dreams 

victor.     That  is  a  conflict  already  set  in  during  the 
infantile  life  of  the  neurotic. 

He  was  not  at  all  willing  to  tell  me  these  matters. 
I  am  the  police  officer  to  whom  he  wants  to  transmit 
a  strange  message,  i.  e.,  he  proposes  not  to  tell  me 
the  most  important  things.  Thus  we  see  that  the 
dream  employs  the  most  extraordinary  processes  of 
fusion  in  order  to  bring  about  distortion  at  the  be- 
hest of  the  censorship.  The  policeman  is  the  father, 
the  brother,  the  physician,  his  penis,  he  himself. 
The  Dienstmann  his  penis, — the  true  Dienstmann, — 
he  himself,  and  finally  the  Dienstmadchen,  servant 
girl,  bisdem  er  als  der  erste  eingedrungen  and  who 
had  to  have  an  abortion  in  consequence.  The  po- 
liceman is  also  the  aunt  and  his  sister-in-law  so  that 
the  dream  leads  to  an  ambisexual  interpretation. 

The  supplementary  dream  discloses  also  a  homo- 
sexual phantasy.  Every  "wall"  or  smooth  parti- 
tion has  the  meaning  of  man.  (There  is  no  door.) 

In  short  this  dream  discloses  the  whole  extent  of 
the  subject's  neurosis. 

The  analysis  acquires  a  new  depth  when  we  recall 
that  "watchman"  in  the  dream  means  death.  That 
is  true  also  of  soldier,  gendarme,  knight,  or  officer. 
They  stand  for  death  which  watches  over  us,  never 
leaving  us  out  of  sight,  as  it  were. 

The  box  symbolizes  the  grave  and  the  coffin.  He 
does  not  want  to  be  the  first  to  die  off:  "it  would  be 
unpleasant  for  me  to  be  the  first  ..."  He  wants 


Interpretation  171 

to  send  in  some  one  else  first,  ».  e.,  send  some  one  to 
his  death.  The  wall  is  the  cemetery  wall.  The 
great  fire  symbolizes  life:  the  self-consuming  flame. 

He  accepts  the  stumbling  block  and  jumps  on  the 
wall:  he  struggles  with  thoughts  of  suicide.  He 
wants  to  shoot  himself. 

That,  indeed,  is  the  most  deepest  and  the  most 
significant  meaning  of  the  dream. 


VIII 

THE  SPLITTING  OF  PERSONALITY  IN   THE  DREAM THE 

DREAM     OF    A    JUDGE:    VILuLA    AND     PRISON THE 

MUSEUM    DREAM. 


Dass  wir  uns  im  Traume  selbst  sehen,  kommt 
daher,  dass  wir  uns  oft  im  Spiegel  sehen,  ohne  daran 
zu  denkeTi,  dass  es  em  Spiegel  ist.  Es  ist  aber  im 
Traume  die  VorsteUung  lebhafter  und  das  Bewusst- 
sein  und  Denken  geringer. 

[That  we  see  ourselves  in  the  dream  is  not  unlike 
seeing  ourselves  in  the  mirror  without  reflecting  that 
it  is  a  mirror.  But  in  the  dream  the  image  is  more 
while  consciousness  and  thought  are  subdued.] 

Lichtenberg 


vm 

Splitting  of  the  personality  in  the  dream  is  a  spe- 
cial form  of  displacement.  The  dreamer  splits  up 
into  his  good  and  his  evil  self.  Literally  writers 
have  always  made  use  of  this  device.1  Freud,  very 
properly,  observes: 

"It  is  an  experience  to  which  I  know  no  excep- 
tion, that  every  dream  represents  the  dreamer  him- 
self. Dreams  are  absolutely  egoistic.  When  some 
other  person  than  myself  appears  in  the  dream  1 
must  assume  decidedly  that  my  personality  figures 
through  identification  with  that  person.  I  am 
rounding  out  my  personality.  At  other  times,  when 
myself  appears  in  the  dream,  the  situation  therein 
shows  that  some  other  person  is  hidden  back  of  and 
identified  with  me.  The  dream  warns  me  to  trans- 
pose from  that  person  to  myself  something  belong- 
ing to  that  person,  to  look  in  the  dream  interpreta- 
tion for  some  masked  common  peculiarity.  I  am 
to  ascribe  to  myself  by  means  of  this  identification 
certain  features  hidden  from  plain  view  by  the  op- 

1  Cp.  in  this  connection  my  work,  Poetry  and  Neurosis,  trans- 
lated by  James  S.  Van  Teslaar.  Among  such  pairs  we  have 
Mephisto  and  Faust,  Zanga  and  Rustan,  Franz  and  Karl 
Moor,  Skule  and  Hakon,  etc. 

175 


176  Sex  and  Dreams 

eration  of  the  censorship.  It  is  therefore  possible 
for  myself  to  appear  variously  in  the  dream,  first 
directly,  and  again  through  identification  with  vari- 
ous other  persons.  Several  identifications  of  this 
type  permit  the  fusion  of  an  unusually  rich  amount 
of  data."  2 

We  now  turn  our  attention  to  a  dream  portray- 
ing displacements;  it  is  at  the  same  time  a  fitting 
illustration  of  the  splitting  of  the  personality  in 
the  dream: 

A  judge  has  the  following  dream: 

(40)  I  had  a  villa  next  to  a  prison  and  presently 
it  appeared  that  a  room  of  that  villa  became  a  sort 
of  veranda  which  led  to  the  roof  of  that  prison  m- 
stitution.  Next  I  knew  that  an  inmate  had  escaped 
from  there  and  there  was  some  talk  about  it.  It 
seemed  to  be  an  uncomfortable  situation,  the  escaped 
prisoner  might  break  in  on  us.  In  fact,  as  I  sat 
alone  in  the  room  looking  out  through  the  veranda 
I  saw  on  the  roof  a  miserable  looking,  thin  emaciat- 
ed, pale-faced  prisoner;  his  eyes  were  sunk,  he  was 
shaved,  and  I  had  at  once  the  impression,  dieser 
Strafling  wird  sich  da  hinausschwingen — this  pris* 

'That  is  virtually  an  infantile  reaction.  At  the  question: 
"who  did  that?"  the  child  always  points  to  "another"  person. 
The  dream  likewise  shifts  all  evil  thoughts  unto  some  one  else 
and  attempts  in  that  manner  to  purge  the  sense  of  guilt  from 
consciousness.  Similar  mental  processes  are  observed  among 
the  primitive  and  simple  minded  people.  "The  devil  did  it!" 
"It  is  the  work  of  the  evil  spirit!"  But  even  persons  of  higher 
cultural  levels  cannot  resist  always  the  temptation  to  project 
outwardly  their  inner  sense  of  guilt. 


Splitting  of  Personality  177 

oner  will  break  away  (literally:  swing  himself  out!). 
Next  I  had  the  impression  that  the  man  attacked 
me  unter  Umstanden,  I  seized  a  knife  lying  on  the 
table,  went  into  a  little  room  separated  by  a  glass 
door  from  the  first,  locked  myself  up  there  and 
watched  through  the  glass  door.  Great  God!  I 
thought  to  myself,  he  may  perhaps  break  through 
the  glass  door  and  I  should  have  to  drive  him  off 
with  the  knife. 

This  is  a  very  characteristic  dream  for  a  judge. 
Of  course  the  neurotic's  feeling  of  guilt  breaks 
through  this  dream  with  great  energy.  The  dream- 
er has  a  number  of  things  on  his  conscience,  nat- 
urally of  a  sexual  character;  his  standing  fear  is 
that  his  wife  will  find  out  about  his  erotic  adven- 
tures and  that  would  disturb  their  marital  happi- 
ness. This  would  be  particularly  the  case  if  one 
of  his  paramours  became  pregnant  as  the  result  of 
his  adventures.  Some  of  his  escapades  directly  en- 
danger his  social  position.  He  could  not  express 
that  more  clearly  in  the  dream  than  by  conjuring 
up  a  prison  next  to  his  villa.  We  see  in  this  dream 
the  splitting  of  the  personality  to  which  I  have  al- 
ready referred  (Faust,  Mephisto,  etc.)  and  the  proc- 
ess is  very  beautifully  illustrated.  He  is  the  man 
sitting  comfortably  in  his  villa,  but  he  is  also  the 
prison  inmate,  the  inconsiderate  light-minded  indi- 
vidual breaking  in  and  disturbing  the  peace  and  hap- 
piness of  his  home.  He  would  like  to  prevent  the 


178  Sex  and  Dreams 

intruder  from  breaking  in.  This  leads  to  the  image 
of  closed  door,  a  picture  typically  recurring  when- 
ever persons  are  afraid  of  temptations ;  the  dream 
shows  that  they  can  always  draw  the  latch  so  as 
not  to  allow  the  passions  to  break  through.  In  such 
instances  the  passions  are  represented  as  wild  beasts, 
horses  or  criminals. 

Moreover  this  dream  carries  also  another  mean- 
ing. In  his  office  there  is  a  woman,  of  rosy  appear- 
ance, well-nourished,  with  red  cheeks,  with  light 
Basedow-eyes  and  a  rich  growth  of  hair  (compare 
the  inversion  in  the  dream:  miserable  looking,  ema- 
ciated, pale-faced  .  .  .  eyes  sunk,  shaved,  Schwin- 
gen  (Hi/nausscTvwlngen)  leads  to  schwangern,  and 
to  Umstanden;  3  both  terms  refer  to  pregnancy. 
At  the  office  he  is  separated  from  the  woman  only 
by  a  glass  door.  Their  relations  at  the  time  are 
merely  platonic,  a  small  partition  still  divides  them 
but  he  proposes  to  attack  that  prisoner  with  his 
knife.  Hence  the  expression  in  the  dream :  "Great 
God!  he  may  perhaps  break  through  the  glass  door 
.  .  .  "  That  the  defense  really  means  an  attack 
is  indicated  by  the  course  of  the  wish  fulfillment  of 
the  dream.  The  splitting  of  the  personality  in  this 
dream  becomes  of  particular  importance  because  it 
enables  the  dreamer  to  retain  his  conscious  self  clear 
and  free,  although  he  is  also  the  prisoner.  The  lat- 

'The   expression   "unter   Umstanden"   refers   to   pregnancy. 
Cp.  the  colloquialism:  "In  andere  Umstande  kommen." 


Splitting  of  Personality  179 

ter  with  his  pale,  deep-seated  eyes  is  also  the  symbol 
of  death. 

The  bisexual  character  of  tl16  dream  is  note- 
worthy. The  struggle  with  the  prison  inmate  is  a 
punishable  homosexual  deed;  considered  inversely  it 
is  an  act  of  aggression  (with  his  phallus)  upon  the 
woman  in  the  office  who  rouses  his  passion.  I  may 
take  this  opportunity  to  point  out  a  remarkable 
fact:  judges,  prosecuting  officers,  and  attorneys  be- 
tray very  commonly  a  "criminal  complex"  in  their 
dreams.  Our  judge  is  really  a  double  personality, 
a  fact  very  clearly  expressed  in  the  dream.  Such 
dreams  are  a  common  occurrence.  A  woman 
dreams : 

(4-1)  I  see  a  great  boggy  field  and  Miss  M.  must 
cross  it.  I  warn  her  saying:  "One  usually  sinks 
down  there!"  Nevertheless  she  runs  ahead,  becomes 
covered  with  dirt  but  laughs  over  it  and  calls  back 
to  me:  "Try  it!"  I  know  I  should  not  sink  and 
although  it  did  not  seem\  to  me  quite  right,  I  went) 
fearlessly  ahead. 

She  struggles  with  temptation  and  personifies  that 
trend  of  her  inner  self  through  Miss  M.  She  warns 
herself  against  the  large  City  "bog,"  but  her  un- 
conscious makes  light  of  the  dangers,  it  urges  hei 
not  to  mind  the  dirt  and  to  go  ahead.  Finally  she 
does  so,  without  injury  to  herself.  She  would  like 
to  experience  and  taste  a  great  deal  but  she  is  afraid 
of  the  consequences.  Her  case  is  a  very  fitting  illus- 


180  Sex  and  Dreams 

tration  of  the  cynical  witticism:  Morality  is  the 
fear  that  something  will  happen !  (Simplicissimus.) 

Following  are  two  beautiful  illustrations  of  the 
splitting  of  personality  in  the  dream: 

(4%)  I  saf®  myself  as  in  a  vision  which  disap- 
peared rapidly.  It  was  in  the  open.  I  saw  myself 
much  smaller — but  with  the  traits  of  a  grown-up 
person — hands  and  feet  nailed  on  the  cross.  A  cou- 
ple of  men  wanted  also  to  drive  some  nails  through 
my  head.  I  said:  "That  is  too  much.  It  was 
only  a  crown  of  thorns" 

"In  the  dream  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  was  looking 
on  thoughtfully  leaning  on  my  arm.'*  She  sees  her- 
self nailed  to  the  cross.  She  is  still  a  child,  so 
young,  and  she  must  already  suffer  so  much!  The 
neurotic  cross  in  her  case  is  a  severe  neuralgia  in- 
volving the  whole  trigeminus  and  extending  across 
the  back.*  The  two  men  are  her  two  sexual  ideals, 
von  denen  sie  eine  Defloration  wiinscht.  The  nails 
through  the  head  are  a  transposition  from  below  and 
signify  congressus.  The  crown  of  thorns  is  the 
Jungfernkranz, — the  crown  of  virginity, — and  she 
would  not  be  pained  at  its  loss.  The  Jungfern- 
Jcranz  was  for  her  but  a  crown  of  thorns.  The  two 
souls  in  her  breast,  the  strictly  moral  and  the  pas- 
sionate, are  very  fittingly  expressed  in  this  dream. 

4  Or,  as  she  expressed  it:  bis  ins  Kreuz  (cross).  Her  severe 
neuralgia  fortifies  the  phantasy  of  being  nailed  to  the  cross, 
which  is  fused  with  phantasies  of  defloration  as  a  form  of 
expatiation. 


Splitting  of  Personality  181 

A  great  sin  weighs  upon  her  shoulders.  She  loves 
two  men  and  is  passionately  yearning  for  them.5 

These  sinful  "yearnings"  have  burdened  her  with 
the  cross  of  her  neurosis.  Here  her  sadistic — 
masochistic  trend  comes  also  into  play  .  .  . 

These  trends  are  expressed  even  more  plainly  in 
the  following  dream: 

(4$)  I  was  in  a  museum  (Panoptikum)  standing 
before  a  glass  box  containing  a  very  beautiful  worn' 
an.  She  said:  "You  see — such  are  the  low  depths 
to  which  we  drift  when  we  do  not  control  ourselves. 
Now  I  must  expose  my  misery  and  shame  to  public 
gaze!"  I  looked  at  her  and  she  turned  greenish, 
yellowish^ — like  a  corpse  or  wax  figure.  I  kept 
looking  and  her  body  was  in  two  (an  upper  and  a 
lower  part)  and  there  was  a  snake  curling  within. 
The  snake  grew  and  the  split  between  the  two  parts 
(of  the  body)  spread  gradually  larger.  A  man  was 
standing  near  her — he  was  much  more  horrible  look- 
ing— with  terrible,  great,  blue  glass  eyes,  yellow 
face.  He  said,  that  was  nothing!  When  only  the 
passions  turn  into  crimes!  I  really  do  not  belong 
to  the  Panoptikum,  but  m  the  torture  chamber.  I 
am  a  criminal,  only  I  have  carried  out  my  misdeeds 

•  Of  course  fancies  of  being  overpowered,  so  common 
among  "virtuous"  girls,  also  play  a  role.  She  wants  to  achieve 
gratification  without  guilt  and  without  having  to  overcome  her 
feeling  oT  shame.  More  than  that:  she  wants  two  men  at  the 
same  time.  An  obscene  picture  roused  this  phantasy  of  a 
congressus  <k  trois.  Nail,  naturally  is  a  phallic  symbol.  Nageln 
for  coire,  vid.:  Anthropophyteia,  vol.  II,  p.  89. 


182  Sex  and  Dr -earns 

m  such  a  way  that  no  one  is  aware.  I  have  kept 
the  trophies.  He  shows  me  a  fish  bladder  like  a 
glass  globe — transparent  (like  the  inflated  balloons 
gold  at  fairs).  The  trophies  consisted  of  a  finger 
and  also  an  eye*  among  other  things.  It  was  like 
a  glass  eye  automatically  moving  its  lid;  up  and 
down,  continuously.  The  wax  figures  kept  chang- 
ing size,  becoming  alternately  larger  and  smaller; 
they  rose  high  and  collapsed  again.  Suddenly  the 
haU  turned  much  more  spacious.  I  made  for  the 
door  which  I  saw  at  a  distance.  I  was  like  para- 
lyzed,— 7  could  not  move.  But  suddenly  I  found 
myself  near  it  only  I  was  unable  to  take  hold  of  the 
door  knob.  Finally  I  found  myself  out-of-doors 
and  I  saw  a  long  corridor — 7  ran  and  ran — and  I 
saw  the  wax  figures  staring  at  me.  At  last  I 
reached  the  stairway  which  seemed  endless.  I  could 
not  go  on,  I  sank  down.  I  thought  to  myself:  You 
are  on  Karlsplatz  anyway!  There  was  a  wax  fig- 
ure— standing  below.  I  reflected:  I  am  that!  Then 
I  said:  No,  that  is  Salome!  She  held  a  bumpkin  in 
her  hand  and  as  she  threw  it  after  me  I  awoke. 

Analysis:     She  sees  the  course  of  her  life.     The 
museum  is  the  treatment.     She  lies  stretched  in  a 

•Eye  as  symbol  for  vagina:  first  symbolic  equation.  Finger 
displaces  penis:  third  symbolic  equation.  An  eye  automatically 
moving  up  and  down  refers  to  the  reflex  movements  during 
coitus:  displacement  from  below.  Moreover,  the  eye,  like  most 
sexual  symbols,  is  bisexual  and  signifies  also  the  scrotum: 
Anthropophytevt,  voL  I,  p.  215.  A  finger  and  two  eyes  =  the 
male  genitalia. 


Interpretation  183 

glass  box  and  must  allow  me  to  look  through  her. 
The  snake  which  divides  the  body  in  two  so  that  the 
split  grows  gradually  larger  hardly  requires  in- 
terpretation on  my  part.  The  division  is  on  a  hori- 
zontal plane  as  it  symbolizes  the  split  between  soul 
and  body.  The  spirit  is  strong,  but  the  flesh  is 
weak. 

"The  human  race  or  the  human  being  is  like  the 
noble  Melusina,"  states  Hebbel,  "passably  tolerable 
down  to  the  umbilicus — below  that,  a  monstrosity." 
Similar  expressions  are  found  in  Nietzsche  and  in 
Shakespeare.  Our  dreamer,  too,  sees  herself  di- 
vided through  sin  (snake)  into  a  noble  and  an  un- 
moral part.  This  division  becomes  gradually  more 
pronounced.  That  points  to  the  tragedy  of  the 
neurosis — the  repression. 

But  taken  literally,  too,  this  dream  picture  bears 
an  important  meaning  for  her.  She  dreams  of  lost 
virginity, — secretly  sacrificed.  The  fish  bladder 
must  protect  against  the  danger  of  pregnancy. 
She  dreams  of  doing  it  secretly  behind  her  parents' 
back.  The  name  of  the  beloved  man  who  should 
do  that  is  Karl  (Karlsplatz).  Salome  again  repre- 
sents a  splitting  of  herself — but  stands  also  for 
KarPs  wife  whose  wrath  she  dreads.  This  woman 
told  her  once  that  Karl,  her  husband,  is  using  fish 
bladders  as  a  protective  measure  because  they  do 
not  want  to  have  any  more  children.  Fertile  as  she 
is  (bumpkin)  she  would  otherwise  have  a  dozen  chil- 


184  Sex  and  Dreams 

dren.  She  went  once  with  that  woman  to  the  opera 
"Salome." 

The  man  with  the  fish  bladder  is  vice — her  se- 
ducer. The  "finger"  is  also  playing  a  role  in  the 
seduction.  The  automatic  eyes  are  the  eyes  of  a 
prostitute  luring  men.  Die  Schweindeln  synibolisie- 
ren  die  Schweinerei.  The  wax  figures, — die  Wachs- 
figuren=wadisenden  Figuren  sind  Penisse.  She  does 
not  go  on,  she  sinks  down.  She  is  a  fallen  woman, 
A  birth  phantasy  is  linked  with  that.  It  seems  the 
fish  bladder  has  failed  to  do  its  duty.  The  bumpkin 
is  a  symbol  of  fertility.  The  dreamer  really  sees 
only  herself  but  under  five  different  forms:  (1) 
the  woman  whose  body  is  divided  by  the  snake;  (2) 
the  experienced  prostitute;  (3)  the  masturbator 
(the  finger)  ;  (4)  the  cruel  sadist  reveling  in  bloody 
phantasies;  (5)  the  male  who  turns  into  a  criminal. 

We  have  here  again  a  bisexual  dream  with  strong 
criminalistic  trends.  The  wax  figures,  like  love  of 
statues  indicate  a  repressed  necrophilia.7 

7  Necrophiliac  trends  are  very  common  among  neurotics  and 
break  forth  as  a  dread  of  dead  bodies  or  graves  and  is  subli- 
mated as  love  for  statues,  wax  figures  and  dead  objects.  The 
motive  for  the  infantile  phantasies  of  necrophiliac  character  is 
found  in  the  defenselessness  of  the  dead:  Anthropophyteia,  vol. 
VI,  p.  249.  A  proof  of  the  persistence  of  these  phantasies 
may  be  seen  in  the  necrophiliac  oaths  of  people  standing  on 
a  somewhat  higher  cultural  level.  Cf.  the  Oaths  of  Croatians, 
Anthropophyteia,  vol.  I.  That  is  also  true  of  the  oaths  com- 
mon among  the  Roumanians.  Fid.:  Anthrop.,  vol.  II,  p.  293. 


IX 


TRANSFORMATIONS    AND    BISEXUALITY THE    MEANING 

OF     FIVE     FINGERS AN     OLD     DREAM     IN     A     NEW 

LIGHT BISEXUAL      SYMBOLS ALL      DREAMS      ARE 

BISEXUAL HOW  THE  DREAMER  SEEKS  THE   MALE 

IN    THE   WOMAN 


Es  gehort  unter  die  Vorziige  des  Menschen  dass 
er  traumt  und  es  weiss.  Man  hat  schwerlich  noch 
den  rechten  Gebrauch  davon  gemacht.  Der  Traum 
ist  ein  Leben,  das  mit  dem  iwserigen  zusammenge- 
setzt  das  wird,  was  wir  menschliches  Leben  nennen. 

[It  is  part  of  man's  advantages  that  he  dreams, 
and  he  knows  it.  We  have  hardly  made  proper  use 
of  the  fact.  Dreaming  is  a  life  which  together  with 
ordinary  living  forms  the  whole  of  what  we  call  hit- 
man existence.} 

Lichtenberg 


IX 

The  transformations  of  the  various  persons  and 
even  of  things  appearing  in  the  dream  has  always 
been  known  as  characteristic  of  the  dream.  Some- 
one plays  the  piano.  Suddenly  the  piano  is  a  piano 
no  longer, — it  is  a  woman.  The  woman  changes  into 
a  tiger.  In  this  manner  the  dream  expresses  proc- 
esses of  identification.  Piano,  woman  and  tiger  are 
to  be  considered  identical.  In  other  words :  one  can 
play  on  this  woman  as  on  a  piano !  But  she  is  very 
emotional.  I  should  not  care  to  rouse  her  jealousy. 
She  would  show  herself  at  once  a  tiger-cat.  This 
rather  minute  association  of  ideas  is  expressed 
through  transformations. 

Sometimes  through  such  a  change  the  dream  ex- 
presses doubt  or  vacillation  between  two  wishes. 
When,  for  instance,  an  anxiety  hysteric  dreams : 

(44)  ^  bird  bit  me  on  the  finger.  Then  the  bird 
changed  into  a  cat  which  jumped  at  me. 
these  two  different  creatures  express  psychic  her- 
maphroditism.  The  man  is  expressed  through  the 
bird  (penis),  the  woman  through  the  cat  (vagina). 
Or  some  one  dreams  of  a  naked  woman.  Suddenly 
she  exhibits  a  gigantic  penis.  At  the  end  she 
changes  into  a  bearded  man. 

187 


188  Sex  and  Dreams 

Other  dreams  express  transformation  in  the  form 
of  doubt. 

(4-5)  I  saw  Mr.  N.  in  the  dream.  I  was  not  sure. 
Later  it  occurred  to  me,  perhaps  it  was  Mr.  X. 

We  may  profitably  examine  this  phenomenon  in 
connection  with  a  few  examples.  A  woman  patient 
dreams  as  follows  after  the  fourth  day  of  treatment : 

(4-6)  Uncle  Charles  brings  Paul  home  after  dark. 
I  was  tremendously  scared  and  asked  whether  we 
ought  to  put  Paul  to  bed  at  once.  Charles  turned 
around  to  me  but  when  I  looked  at  him,  it  was  not 
Paul,  I  saw  instead  Dr.  StekePs  dark  face.  On  ac- 
count of  the  fright  I  had  just  gone  through  I  felt 
exhausted  and  leaned  my  head  on  my  arm. 

Analysis:  Part  of  the  situation  is  true  to  life. 
Her  uncle  did  bring  his  wife  "Paula"  to  the  house 
after  a  serious  injury  in  an  automobile  accident. 
Paula  was  her  best  friend.  Charles,  her  strongest 
love.  An  unhappy  love  which  was  soon  at  an  end. 
An  end,  in  an  external  sense.  She  broke  off  all  re- 
lations with  him.  But  inwardly  she  still  loves  him 
with  all  the  affection  of  a  lonely  girl  who  feels  her- 
self getting  on  in  years  and  who  yearns  for  affec- 
tion. Her  next  strongest  attachment  is  to  her 
brother  Paul.  He  too  is  brought  to  the  house  seri- 
ously injured,  i.  e.,  he  dies  soon.  Naturally  only  in 
a  symbolic  sense.  He  dies  so  far  as  her  heart  is 
concerned.  I  inherit  all  the  affection.  She  trans- 


Transformations  189 

fers  to  me  all  the  love  she  had  felt  for  Charles  and 
Paul.     I  must  encourage  and  uphold  her. 

The  transformation  of  Charles  into  my  person  is 
the  symbolic  expression  of  the  emotional  transfer- 
ence. Our  pictures  blend  into  one.  I  am  identified 
with  Charles  and — as  is  shown  by  another  dream — 
with  Paul.  (All  the  wishes  of  death  against  the 
brother  now  flare  up  again.) 

Miss  Etha  dreams; 

(4-7 )  We  are  to  move  from  our  old  dwelling;  ter~ 
rible  disorder  in  all  the  rooms.  The  servant  girl 
suddenly  brings  in  a  couple  of  calling  cards  and 
says:  "I  have  shown  the  gentlemen  to  the  front 
room" — It  is  Hugo  with  a  strange  man.  He 
brought  the  stranger  along, — I  think  to  myself — 
so  as  to  make  sure  of  being  received.  Mama  wend 
with  me  to  the  front  room.  It  looked  dusty  and 
bare,  mama  passed  by  Hugo  without  a  word.  I  began 
to  talk  with.  him.  "You  are  wholly  changed  in  ap- 
pearance,1' he  said.  "My  appearance  is  no  longer 
any  concern  of  yours,"  I  answered.  Then  I  sud- 
denly felt  sorry  and  began  to  caress  his  hair.  We 
sat  side  by  side  on  an  upturned  sofa.  "See,  now  I 
am  almost  well,"  I  said.  He  looked  incredulously 
at  me.  "And  I  was  very  seriously  ill, — nervous- 
ness," I  continued,  thinking  to  myself  at  the  same 
time,  "and  that  is  for  the  most  part  your  fault.'1 
Then  I  told  him  about  Dr.  Stekel.  "It  is  aU  non- 


190  Sex  and  Dreams 

sense"  growled  Hugo.  "So,"  I  said,  "the  other 
physicians  pay  no  attention  to  the  soul;  yet  that 
is  the  chief  factor  in  every  case  of  illness."  I  held 
him  in  embrace,  he  changed  into  a  big  hound,  grad- 
ually shrunk  in  size  and  suddenly  it  was  Schary  1 
was  holding  in  my  arms  and  caressing. 

This  dream  becomes  intelligible  when  we  find  out 
that  Hugo  was  the  young  man  to  whom  she  had 
been  engaged  and  that  he  had  broken  the  engage- 
ment. He  calls  accompanied  by  a  strange  man. 
That  is  the  manner  in  which  the  dream  portrays  the 
fact  that  Hugo  has  become  estranged.  The  over- 
determination  of  the  idea  of  a  strange  man  is  also 
shown  by  the  fact  that  he  is  to  be  received  in  the 
front  room.  Hugo  has  never  acted  towards  her  as 
a  real  man.  The  stranger  is  here  also  a  phallic 
symbol.1 

We  note  a  number  of  transformations  in  this 
dream.  Hugo  is  a  stranger  to  her.2  But  she,  too, 
is  changed.  The  upturned  sofa  also  testifies  to  the 
great  contrast  between  the  past  and  the  present. 
Once  they  spooned  on  the  sofa.  She  would  lie  down, 
he  sit  near  her.  Sometimes  he  turned  wild  and  be- 
gan embracing  her  passionately.  She  would  be  all 
astir  thinking:  what  next?  But  nothing  happened. 

*An  additional  overdetertnination, — the  significance  of 
"strange  man,"  or  "the  stranger,"  as  representative  of  death, 
— will  be  explained  later  in  connection  with  our  systematic 
account  of  death  symbols. 

1  The  psychic  mechanism  of  this  occurrence  is  explained  more 
fully  in  the  chapter  entitled  "The  Feeling  of  Strangeness." 


Transformations  191 

Hugo  is  no  man.  Less  now  than  ever.  He  needs, 
no  sofa.  What  for?  It  is  no  use  lying  down  either. 
They  both  sit  on  the  upturned  sofa.  (References 
to  "sitzenbleiben,"  literally  to  "remain  sitting,"  a 
German  colloquialism  for  remaining  single  and  to  the 
"Umsturgen"  or  upset  conditions.) 

Her  illness  is  a  matter  of  the  past.  She  had  been 
very  ill.  Now  she  is  well.  .  .  .  Next,  I  enter  into 
the  situation.  She  points  out  that  I  am  concerned 
with  the  soul.  That  is  the  chief  thing,  she  says  dis- 
dainfully. Hugo  turns  into  a  big  dog  (scorn?). 
Suddenly  he  becomes  my  dog,  the  dear  little  Schary 
who  is  present  at  all  the  analyses.  The  dog  repre- 
sents me.  Specifically  he  stands  for  my  animal  per- 
sonality.3 The  series  of  transformations  Hugo — 
great  dog — little  dog — Schary — Dr.  Stekel — ex- 
presses the  emotional  transference  from  the  unfaith- 
ful young  man  to  me. 

The  next  two  dreams  are  those  of  Mr.  OmiJcron,  a 
compulsion  neurotic.  They  also  show  a  transforma- 
tion which  is  the  clearest  proof  of  identification. 

The  first  part  of  the  dream  shows  that  the  pa- 
tient's masturbation  is  linked  with  secret  incestuous 
phantasies.  We  shall  presently  find  out  on  whom 
these  phantasies  are  centered: 

(48)  I  went  down  some  stairway  accompanied  by 
a  girl  whom  I  recently  met.  She  says  to  me  I  must 

*  Dogs  in  the  dream  represent  "shameless"  sexuality.  Mop- 
geln  =  coire  (Anthropophyteia,  vol.  Ill,  p.  222.) ;  Also  "Pu- 
deln." 


192  Sex  and  Dreams 

bring  Dr.  Stekel's  servant  girl  an  apron, — this 
probably  be  an  easy  thing  for  me  to  do  as  my  sister 
carries  aprons  in  stock.  An  apron  like  that  is  prob- 
ably worth  about  fifteen  kreuzer.  I  promise  to  do 
so,  the  while  thinking  to  myself  that  such  aprons  as 
she  has  in  mind  cost  thirty- five  kreuzer  a  piece.  I 
coddle  up  to  her;  m  that  moment  I  see  it  is  my  sister. 
I  was  about  to  kiss  her  but  hesitate.  She  says  T 
must  be  joyous,  it  is  all  right.  I  may  kiss  her. 

The  figures  are  explained  by  the  patient  as  fol- 
lows: 15 — fiinf-zehn  (fifteen),  fiinf  Zehen  (five 
toes) — five  fingers  and  signifies  onanism. 

Thirty-five,  according  to  him  means  "mit  den 
Fiinfen  reiss  ich"  and  also  points  to  masturbation 
(Sich  einen  herunterreissen).  The  sister  urges  him 
to  kiss  her, — it  does  not  matter.  That  was  once  a 
fact.  He  was  six  years  of  age  (15^5-|-1— 6),  the 
sister  was  eight  (35=3-}-5=8)  when  they  were  to- 
gether in  bed  and  were  playing  with  one  another. 
She  had  then  asked  him  to  kiss  her. 

He  loves  his  sister  very  dearly  to  this  day.  A 
poem  by  Paul  Heyse  comes  to  his  mind: 

Ein  bruder  und  ein  Schwester 
Nichts  treueres  kent  die  Welt 
Kein  Goldkettlein  halt  fester 
Als  das  zusammenhalt. 


Transformations  193 

The  apron  4  has  various  associations.  .    .    . 

And  presently  he  brings  a  second  dream  which 
portrays  more  deeply  the  sense  of  guilt  linked  to 
certain  infantile  incestuous  episodes. 

(49)  I  passed  by  a  show  window  and  wholly  un- 
aware of  what  I  was  doing  I  opened  it  up  and  re- 
moved some  gold  chains.  I  am  scared  when  I  reflect 
on  what  I  have  really  done.  I  ran  into  a  jewelry 
store  where  I  found  my  sister  selling  something  to 
the  gold  worker  (or  was  she  there  to  purchase  some- 
thing herself?).  I  feared  I  would  be  arrested  and 
at  the  same  time  I  wished  it  would  happen  so  that  I 
might  be  able  to  state,  that  I  do  not  know  why  I 
did  it. 

He  himself  is  the  gold  worker  who  wishes  to  tell 
me  the  story  of  his  trauma.  Various  intimacies  had 
taken  place  between  himself  and  his  sister.  He  re- 
calls having  been  told  by  his  sister  that  during  their 
childhood  he  had  urinated  into  her  mouth.  (Urine, 
— excreta, — gold:  Second  symbolic  equation.) 
Recollections  of  passionate  kisses  and  hugging  also 
come  to  mind.  The  parents  were  imprudent  enough 
to  allow  the  children  to  sleep  together  for  years. 
He  remembers  that  he  told  his  sister  lewd  things. 
There  is  also  some  history  of  fellatio.  A  girl  told 
him  about  this  when  he  was  ten  years  of  age.  He 

'German,  Schiirze  (apron), — like  the  "Americanese"  "skirt," 
— is  a  vulgarism  for  woman. 


194  Sex  and  Dreams 

was  terribly  shocked  and  wondered  whether  he  ought 
to  tell  his  mother.  Finally  he  did  so  and  felt  very 
much  relieved  after  that.  He  suffered  of  a  pro- 
nounced polyuria  at  the  time.  He  had  to  run  sev- 
eral times  hourly  to  the  bathroom.  .  .  . 

The  dream  records  that  he  has  robbed  his  sister 
of  the  precious  jewel,  innocence.  His  conscience 
troubles  him  on  that  account  as  well  as  because 
of  his  incestuous  thoughts.  (For  more  detailed 
analysis  cp.  Dreams  Nos.  34,  102,  314,  315,  318.) 

The  transposition  of  my  servant  girl  into  his  sis- 
ter shows  that  back  of  all  his  female  ideals  stands 
the  ideal  of  his  youth, — his  sister.  The  dream  airs 
the  riddle  of  the  choice  of  an  objective.  My  serv- 
ant girl  (who  wears  a  white  apron)  attracts  him 
because  she  reminds  him  of  his  sister. 

I  close  this  account  of  transformations  with  a 
dream  by  Epsilon,  an  artist.  It  is  a  typical  bi- 
sexual dream. 

(50)  I  walk  along  through  a  "joy"  street  and  I 
approach  a  girl.  When  I  am  near  her  she  changes 
into*  a  man  who  is  lying  on  a  sofa  half  wndfessed. 
He  says:  "Es  wird  dich  doch  nicht  genieren"  oder 
"es  geniert  Sie  doch  nicht'*:  "it  won't  discommode 
you,"  or  "it  surely  makes  no  difference  to  you  (that 
I  am  really  a  man"). 

The  man  seemed  elderly,  he  wore  side  whiskers 
which  were  gray.  He  reminded  me  of  a  good  friend 
of  papa's. 


Transformations  195 

The  prostitute  changes  into  a  friend  of  his 
father's  and  then  into  his  father  whom  he  thus  sur- 
prises in  a  bawdy  house.  The  changing  of  the  girl 
into  the  father  shows  the  mechanism  of  transforma- 
tion. He  plays  the  role  of  the  father  when  he  goes 
to  women.  He  seeks  the  father  when  he  identifies 
himself  with  the  mother.  His  vacillation  between 
man  and  woman  is  exhibited  in  the  dream  through 
the  transformation.  The  bird  which  changed  into  a 
cat,  too,  illustrated  the  same  thing. 

We  have  analyzed,  thus  far,  fifty  dreams;  rather 
lightly  and  superficially.  Practical  considerations 
make  it  necessary  that  I  should  limit  myself  only  to 
the  most  significant  and  most  pertinent  details. 
But  in  every  dream  where  we  took  the  trouble  to  in- 
vestigate this  point,  we  came  upon  the  problem  of 
bisexuality. 

I  now  conclude:  ATI  dreams  are  bisexuaUy  de- 
termined. Where  the  bisexual  character  is  not  vis- 
ible it  belongs  to  the  latent  dream  thought.  On  this 
point  my  experience  coincides  with  the  view  of 
Alfred  Adler 5  who  goes  farther  and  who  sees  in 
every  dream  the  trend  of  the  female  towards  the 
male  directive  tendency, — the  so-called  "male  pro- 
test." We  shall  speak  of  that  later.  Now  I  propose 
to  give  a  few  examples  illustrating  how  psychic 
hermaphroditism  expresses  itself  in  the  dream. 

e  Der  psychische  Hermaphroditismus,  Fortschritte  der  Medi- 
zin,  1910. 


196  Sex  and  Dreams 

We  take  first  an  old  example.  Dream  nine  of 
Mr.  Beta: 

(9)  I  see  a  great  wooden  image  of  Christ  before 
me.  I  chip  off  a  piece. 

We  have  interpreted  that  metaphor  and  found 
that  the  dreamer  had  "taken  a  chip"  out  of  his  di- 
vinity. But  further  analysis  shows  that  he  chipped 
off  the  middle  part,  i.e.,  the  genitals.  It  means  that 
he  transforms  his  god  into  his  goddess.  Or  else  he 
emasculates  his  god.  We  shall  see  later  how  power- 
fully Mr.  Beta's  neurosis  is  influenced  by  active  and 
passive  phantasies  of  castration.  The  bisexual 
character  of  this  dream  is  implied  in  this  emascula- 
tion. 

The  bisexuality  of  the  neurotic,  a  discovery  in 
connection  with  which  Fliess,  Freud,  Sadger,  Wein- 
inger  and  Swoboda  have  rendered  great  services  ex- 
presses itself  in  the  dreams  as  plainly  as  in  the 
"hysterical  symptoms'*  or  in  the  hysterical  char- 
acter. (Adler.) 

But  how  masked  bisexuality  asserts  itself  in  the 
dream,  how  dimly,  how  cryptically !  Let  us  examine 
a  few  examples. 

Miss  Gamma  had  a  couple  of  dreams  in  succes- 
sion: 

(51)  I  wandered  back  and  forth,  undecided 
whether  to  put  on  my  blouse  or  my  nightgown,  was 
restless  and  m  fact  could  not  understand  what  was 
the  matter  with  me. 


BisexuaUty  197 

Charles  came  and  offered  me  some  cigar- 
ettes in  a  box  but  I  did  not  take  any  as  it  was  fore- 
noon and  I  had  no  desire  to  smoke. 

Blouse  or  nightgown  (Schlafrock)  signifies  here 
the  restless  question:  Man  or  woman?  "Do  I  feel 
to-day  like  a  man  or  like  a  woman?"  Her  second 
dream  denies  her  female  tendencies.  She  is  a  male, 
therefore  she  refuses  the  proffered  penis  (cigarette). 
The  statement:  "I  did  not  understand  what  was 
the  matter  with  me"  expresses  her  vacillation  be- 
tween male  and  female.  These  two  dreams  show 
clearly  a  male  protest,  a  trend  in  the  direction  of 
maleness. 

The  next, — a  dream  of  a  thirty-year-old  man  is 
clearer : 

(53)  Dr.  X.  sits  in  room,  dressed  in  women's 
clothes,  and  seems  very  stout.     He  wears  a  gray 
blouse.  .  .  . 

S.  T.  sees  Dr.  X.,  his  office  colleague,  as  a  woman. 
Here  we  find  that  blouse  stands  for  woman  a  female 
symbol.  In  the  previous  dream  (fifty-one)  blouse 
was  a  male  symbol.  I  disclose  an  open  secret:  all 
sexual  symbols  are  originally  bisexual. 

Mr.  X.  dreams: 

(54)  For  everyday  wear  I  have  male  clothes,  but 
also  a  girl's  suit.     I  go  for  a  walk  dressed  m  the, 
latter  and  look  so  well  the  part  of  a  girl,  no  one 
suspects  that  I  am  really  a  man.  .  .  . 

How  cleverly  the  dreamer  (53)  has  perceived  the 


198  Sex  and  Dreams 

feminine  character  of  Dr.  X.  His  dream  discloses 
Dr.  X.  as  a  genuine  transvestite.  The  latter  is  a 
term  introduced  by  Magnus  Hirschfeld,6  who  calls 
transvestites  "persons  who  have  a  strong  inclina- 
tion to  dress  themselves  in  wearing  apparel  of  the 
sex  to  which  they  do  not  physically  belong."  Dis- 
regarding the  qualification  of  a  "strong  inclina- 
tion" and  considering  merely  the  tendency  to  wear 
peculiar  apparel,  we  may  say:  All  neurotics  are 
transvestites,  because  all  alike  are  psychic  hermaph* 
rodites  and  bisexuality  is  an  important  constit- 
uent of  their  character. 

That  is  the  reason  why  peculiar  wearing  apparel 
plays  an  important  role  in  the  neurotic's  dreams  as 
well  as  in  his  actual  life.  There  are,  of  course,  vari- 
ous transitional  phases.  Among  men,  long  clothes 
have  a  special  significance.  The  category  includes, 
therefore:  priests,  judges,  lawyers,  bathing  room 
attendants,  and  generally  the  handsome  young  men 
who  resemble  the  feminine  type.  The  other  sex 
shows:  stage  women  in  rolled  down  stockings,  tour- 
ists and  bicycle  riders  in  "uniform,"  women  with  a 
hairy  growth  on  the  upper  lip,  or  with  deep  voice 
and  male  mannerisms;  also  old  women  because  they 
resemble  the  male  type.  These  categories  include 
also  men  with  long  hair  or  with  braids  (Chinese) 

•  Magnus  Hirschfeld,  Die  Transvestiten:  Eine  Untersuchung 
iiber  den  erotischen  Verkleidungstrieb  (Mediz.  Verlag,  Alfred 
Pulvermacher  und  Co.,  Berlin,  1910). 


Bisexuality  199 

and  women  with  short  hair, — the  long  haired  poet 
and  the  "emancipated"  Mignon  with  her  bobbed 
curls. 

Bisexuality  is  pivotal  in  the  neurosis  and  in  the 
dream.  Where  is  there  a  symbol  which  may  not  be 
used  in  a  male  and  female  sense  at  the  same  time — • 
even  if  the  cooperation  of  the  phantasy  be  ever  so 
slight ! 

Let  us  examine  a  few  examples: 

The  snake  is  an  exquisite  male  sexual  symbol  and 
represents  the  phallus.  But  it  may  also  be  used  as 
a  female  symbol,  like  all  smooth,  moist,  slippery 
creatures  and  represent  the  vulva.  Shellfish  and 
snail  are  female  symbols.  Snail, — Schnecke,  stands 
for  vulva.  (Vid.  Anthropophyteia,  vol.  Ill,  p.  98.) 
But  Schnecke  is  a  term  which  has  also  its  male  gen- 
der form, — der  Schneck.  The  latter  form  is  some- 
times applied  to  a  woman,  as  in  the  expression,  "ein 
lieber  Schneck!"  But  der  Schneck  also  means  the 
penis.  (Anthrop.,  vol.  VI,  p.  50.)  Schneckenhaus 
(cockle-shell),  as  a  receiver,  should  be  female. 
Nevertheless  it  is  used  for  the  penis  (Ibid.,  Ill,  p. 
189).  The  plural  form  of  this  term — die  Schneck- 
er, — is  bisexual  and  means:  the  pudendal  hair. 

Mouse  and  rat  are  terms  also  used  in  a  bisexual 
sense.  (Vid.  Anthropophyteia,  vol.  I,  pp.  143-144; 
ibid.,  vol.  Ill,  p.  52,  p.  186.) 

This  is  also  true  of  broom  (Anthrop.,  II,  p.  26)  ; 
of  lamp  and  its  constituent  parts  (ibid.,  p.  141, 


200  Sex  and  Dreams 

230)  ;  of  fish  (fishing-coire ;  vid.  Anthrop.,  I,  p. 
251)  ;  of  toad  and  frog  (ibid.,  II,  p.  132),  etc. 

This  widespread  double  use  of  sexual  symbols  is 
a  vestige  of  pagan  hermaphroditism ;  of  that  early 
period  when  divinities  were  represented  (and,  of 
course,  thought  of,)  as  giantesque  females  with  a 
large  penis  or  as  males  with  full  grown  breasts.  Sym- 
bolic comparisons  express  essential  identities. 
"Einem  penis  melken"  means  masturbating.  The 
penis  is  treated  as  a  teat.  Such  details  disclose 
psychic  hermaphroditism. 

The  bisexual  divinity  is  disclosed  also  in  the  dream 
images  of  the  neurotics.  Probably  not  all  dreams 
are  as  transparent  as  the  following,  obtained  from 
a  twenty-year-old  neurotic: 

(55)  I  dream  that  I  lie  in  bed  with  mother  and  I 
embrace  her  warmly.  As  I  move  my  hand  down- 
wards I  discover  to  my  consternation  a  tremen- 
dously big,  erect  penis.  I  awake  with  an  outcry. 

This  neurotic  has  a  peculiar  fixation  of  his  libido. 
He  is  attracted  by  large,  muscular  leg  calves.  This 
sexual  objective  rouses  his  libido  irrespective  of 
the  sex.  He  wears  women's  stockings  which  must 
reach  at  least  to  the  knee  and,  in  spite  of  a  heavy 
growth  of  hair,  he  takes  great  pains  to  shave  him- 
self very  smoothly.  Other  men  wear  arm  bands,  or 
are  interested  in  toilette  articles,  use  perfumes,  etc. 
These  traits  may  be  shown  in  the  dream. 

Even    more    interesting    is    the    tracing    of    the 


Bisexuality  201 

peculiarities  of  character  perceived  either  as  male 
or  female.  Dr.  Alfred  Adler,7  of  Vienna,  has  ren- 
dered a  great  service  to  science  by  pointing  out  this 
significant  fact  and  he  has  made  thereby  an  impor- 
tant contribution  towards  our  better  understanding 
of  dreams.  He  points  out  that  the  psychic  hermaph- 
roditism  shows  itself  among  male  neurotics  even 
physically  in  the  form  of  a  female  habitus  and  that 
the  reverse  is  also  true  of  female  neurotics.  All 
neurotics  suffer  of  a  feeling  of  inferiority 8  and 
attempt  to  overcome  their  trivial  female  traits  by 
their  "male  protest."  Psychoanalysis  must  be  able 
to  trace  in  every  case  (1)  the  female  traits;  (2)  the 
male  protest  and  (3)  the  formulations  which  repre- 
sent the  compromise  between  these  two  tendencies. 

Adler  has  analyzed,  among  others  of  the  kind,  the 
following  "two  dreams  of  a  prostitute" :  9 

(56)  I  saw  before  me  a  man  with  a  comb  inci- 
dentally  sticking  in  Ms  hair.  I  had  a  feeling,  of 
dread  which  increased  as  I  realized  that  the  creature 
had  horns  and  a  tail. 

"It  is  obvious  that  we  have  in  this  dream-thought 
the  well-known  symbol  found  in  all  religions, — the 
devil.  But  that  does  not  disclose  much  about  the 
character  of  the  dream.  One  does  not  need  to  have 

*  Der  psyschische  Hermaphroditismiis  im  Leben  und  in  der 
Neurose.  Fortschritte  der  Medizin,  1910,  No.  16. 

'A.  Adler,  Studie  fiber  die  Minderwertigkeit  der  Organen 
(Urban-Schwarzenberg,  Wien,  Berlin,  1907). 

•Zeitschrift  f.  Sexualwissenschaft,  1908,  p.  103. 


202  Sex  and  Dreams 

recourse  to  dreaming  to  conjure  up  the  mental 
image  of  the  devil.  Freud,  whose  conception  of  the 
nature  of  the  dream  I  am  able  to  corroborate  in  most 
essentials,  sets  up  as  the  test  that  the  dream  anal- 
ysis has  been  carried  out  properly,  the  tracing  out 
of  the  wish  concealed  in  the  dream.  At  the  same 
time  the  anxiety  which  accompanied  the  dream  re- 
minds us  that  we  must  expect  to  find  the  wish  fulfill- 
ment deeply  concealed  and  protected  against  dis- 
covery by  a  resistance  which  could  not  be  overcome 
during  the  waking  state.  During  the  dream  the 
psychic  process  of  dream  formation  must  have  been 
able  to  overcome  that  resistance  and  the  accompany- 
ing persistent  feeling  of  dread  must  be  viewed  as 
the  obverse, — as  standing  for  a  wish  repressed  in  the 
waking  life  but  attaining  its  maximal  intensity  in 
the  unconscious.  We  need  to  bear  in  mind  one  more 
point  in  order  to  appreciate,  at  least  approximately, 
the  character  of  that  wish.  The  anxiety  bears  only 
partially  on  that  point, — briefly  it  indicates  that 
the  repressed  wish  belongs  to  the  sexual  realm.  We 
refer  back  to  the  peculiar  incident  that  the  person 
in  the  dream  wears  a  comb  in  the  hair, — a  positive 
emblem  of  femininity;  the  person  thus  represents  a 
she-devil  rather  than  the  devil.  The  explanation  of 
the  she-devil  is  easy.  In  all  probability  the  dream 
image  under  consideration  may  be  traced  to  the 
repressed  Lesbian  trend,  and  the  wish  fulfillment  con- 
sists in  the  replacement  of  man  by  woman.  The 


Bisexuality  203 

demoniac  attributes  refer  back  to  the  dreamer's 
childhood  when  all  sexual  excitations  were  consid- 
ered as  roused  by  the  devil  (religion,  confession). 
Interesting  is  the  linking  together  of  religiosity  and 
perversity  which  here  rouses  the  suspicion  that  either 
may  stand  for  the  other." 

(57 )  I  thought  that  I  started  to  cross  a  river  in 
a  boat.  With  me  in  the  boat  there  was  a  young  boy 
whose  face  was  covered  with  numerous  pustules. 
When  we  landed  I  ran  up  the  hill  and  saw  a  ceme- 
tery. I  threw  myself  down  before  a  monument  rep- 
resenting the  Holy  Mary,  I  embraced  and  kissed  her 
and  in  the  end  I  bit  off  her  nose.  After  that  I  had 
a  feeling  of  dread. 

"Numerous  pustules  on  the  face,  any  prostitute, 
and  even  others,  would  interpret  as  meaning  syph- 
ilis. It  often  happens  that  the  physician  finds  it 
necessary  to  explain  to  some  acne  subject  that  he  is 
not  a  victim  of  syphilitic  infection.  Or  else,  the 
physician  is  urged  to  cure  the  trouble  as  quickly  as 
possible  because  the  patient's  acquaintances  suspect 
the  acne  to  be  a  sign  of  syphilis.  The  cemetery 
where  the  journey  ends  signifies  the  fear  of  dying 
through  luetic  infection.  The  loss  of  the  nose  is 
easily  explained,  when  we  recall  that  this  dread  on 
the  part  of  syphilitics  is  not  an  infrequent  compli- 
cation of  tertiary  syphilis.  We  note  again,  images 
borrowed  from  the  realm  of  religion;  and  a  fusion  of 
woman  and  religion  is  presented  before  our  eyes  in 


204  Sex  and  Dreams 

the  statue  of  Mary.  Here  the  Lesbian  trend  ap- 
pears fused  entirely  with  the  religious  trait;  that 
is  why  the  dream  portrays  what  wakink  activity 
holds  wholly  under  repression.  If  we  should  at- 
tempt to  formulate  a  synthesis  out  of  the  revealed 
psychic  processes  it  must  be  approximately  as  fol- 
lows: As  a  Lesbian  I  should  not  be  in  such  great 
danger  of  luetic  infection, — at  the  most  I  might 
bite  off  the  nose  of  my  beloved  through  love."  10 

Since  the  publication  of  the  above  dream  anal- 
yses Adler  has  applied  the  principle  of  bisexuality  to 
all  dreams. 

We  now  turn  our  attention  to  a  later  dream  anal- 
ysis by  Adler.  (Vid.:  Die  psychische  Behandlung 
der  Trigemmusneuralgie,  Zentrble.  f.  Psychoanal- 
yse, Vol.  I,  No.  1.) 

A  twenty-six-year  old  man,  suffering  of  trigem- 
inal  neuralgia  dreams: 

(58)  I  am  naked  in  a  room  rtrith  the  beloved.  She 
bites  me  on  the  thigh.  I  give  an  outcry  and  wdk& 
up  with  a  severe  paroxysm  of  my  neuralgia. 

"The  inciter  to  this  dream  was  an  event  which 
occurred  the  previous  evening,  as  follows:  patient 

had  received  from  Graz  an  illustrated  postcard  on 
10  In  my  opinion  "necrophiliac"  trends  also  break  through 
here.  The  holy  mother  of  God,  too,  is  bisexual, — representing 
God  and, — next, — the  father.  The  dream  seems  to  indicate 
castration — and  fellatio-phantasies.  "The  young  boy"  is  again 
the  prostitute  herself;  and  the  boat  carries  her  into  eternity, 
where  she  will  have  to  account  for  her  sins.  (One  source  of 
her  anxiety  state:  the  fear  of  hell.)  For  her  life  of  sin  she 
is  plunged  in  hell. 


Blsexuality  205 

which  there  were  a  number  of  signatures  including 
his  brother's  and  that  of  the  girl  who  figured  in  the 
dream.  During  the  evening  meal  he  had  no  appe- 
tite and  he  suffered  a  slight  attack.  Concerning 
the  dream  he  relates :  the  girl  had  been  one  time  his 
sweetheart.  But  he  tired  of  her  and  in  a  short  time 
he  lost  altogether  his  interest  in  her.  A  short  time 
ago  his  brother  became  acquainted  with  her.  He 
warned  his  brother  but  without  any  result,  as  was 
shown  by  the  joint  signatures  on  the  card.  That 
hurt  him  especially  as  he  otherwise  had  a  strong  in- 
fluence upon  his  brother  and,  since  the  father's 
death,  he  had  assumed,  so  to  speak,  the  latter's 
place  to  the  brother.'* 

"Naked":  He  disliked  undressing  himself  before 
the  women.  He  particularly  avoided  exposing  his 
genitals.  That,  undoubtedly,  was  due  to  his  cryp- 
torchism. 

"She  bit  him  in  the  thigh."  1X  This  rouses  merely 
the  following  association:  the  girl  had  all  sorts  of 
perverse  ways, — she  had  also  bitten  him.  The  some- 
what suggestive  question  whether  he  had  ever  heard 

11  The  experienced  analyst  will  have  no  difficulty  to  under- 
stand this  passage.  We  have  here  a  patient  whose  illness  aims 
to  cause  him  to  fear  pain.  Other  data  in  the  course  of  the 
analysis  revealed  a  precocious  knowledge  on  his  part  of  the 
pain  involved  in  child-bearing.  And  during  his  childhood  that 
pain  was  made  plausible  for  him  by  the  idea:  the  stork  has 
bitten  mother  in  the  leg!  "She  bit  him  in  the  thigh,"  in  this 
connection  means  practically:  she  has  degraded  him  to  the 
level  of  a  woman,  she  has  humiliated  him  through  her  relation 
with  his  brother.  Similarly,  with  other  neurotics:  "to  be 
bitten"  by  a  dog,  or  by  insects. 


206  Sex  and  Dreams 

of  any  one  being  bitten  in  the  thigh,  he  answered  by 
referring  to  the  fable  about  the  stork. 

"7  cried  out":  He  does  so  during  severe  par- 
oxysms. Then  his  mother  rushes  to  his  side  from 
the  neighboring  room  to  quiet  him  down,  sometimes 
to  give  him  a  morphine  injection. 

"We  believe  that  the  dream  is  sufficiently  trans- 
parent and  therefore  extensive  attempts  at  syn- 
thesis are  hardly  necessary.  The  dream  expresses 
clearly  a  feeling  of  being  degraded,  but  it  also 
brings  on  an  attack;  that  enables  him  to  attain  a 
symbolic  aim:  to  get  close  to  mother.  In  other 
words,  from  a  woman  (he  is  being  bitten)  he  turns 
into  a  man.  His  stigma  of  unmanliness, — his  cryp- 
torchism, — must  also  give  way  in  this  connection,  so 
he  appears  "naked."  He  is  a  man,  he  need  not 
cringe  before  anybody, — but  he  is  that  only  through 
the  bypath  of  neuralgic  pains.  And  he  secures  for 
himself  this  feeling  of  male  superiority — precisely 
as  in  the  childish  morbid  situation — through  pain."  12 

While  I  believe  that  the  analysis  of  this  dream 
should  have  been  pursued  more  deeply,  I  want  to 
illustrate  in  connection  with  some  of  my  own  dream 
material  the  viewpoint  of  Adler  which  is  important 
for  the  psychoanalysis  of  dreams,  and  this  will  serve 
to  illustrate  the  foundation  as  well  as  the  limitations 
of  his  method  of  inquiry.  I  accept  unreservedly  the 
concept  of  "psychic  hermaphroditism,"  but  I  find 

"Pains  here  mean,  of  course,  "female"  weapons. 


Bisexuality  207 

that  the  principle  of  the  "male  protest"  has  only 
partial  validity.  .  .  . 

When  we  appreciate  the  continuous  swaying  of 
the  neurotic  between  the  male  and  the  female  ideal, 
many  of  the  transformations  of  the  dreams  become 
at  once  clear  to  us:  particularly  the  change  of  man 
into  woman  and  the  reverse  transformation.  The 
dreamer  who  finds  his  father  as  a  puella  publica 
(dream  No.  50)  betrays  through  that  dream  his 
own  psychic  hermaphroditism.  He  seeks  the  male 
in  woman  13  and  he  seeks  the  woman  through  the 
male.  Just  as  he  is  man,  and  woman  at  the  same 
time,  he  seeks  a  similar  ideal  in  others.  For  every 
one  seeks  himself  in  others.  "To  love  means  to  find 
one's  self  in  others,"  says  Hebbel. 

How  unbelievably  subtle  the  expression  of  psychic 
hermaphroditism  may  be,  and  how  clever  the  search 
of  the  male  ideal, — portrayed  in  the  dream, — is 
shown  by  the  following  dream  of  Mr.  Zamara. 

The  analysis  is  furnished  by  the  cured  subject 
himself.  It  is  here  reported  in  his  own  words : 

First,  the  dream: 

(59)  A  friend  invited  me  to  spend  Christmas 
evening  with  him.  I  accepted  the  invitation.  I  saw 
in  a  hall  an  exhibition  of  Christmas  gifts  for  sale, 
especially  little  horses,  which  were  being  packed  up 
during  the  evening.  The  Christmas  trees,  too,  were 

14  Finally   he   triumphs   over  the  father.     For  he  is   above 
(Adier). 


208  Sex  and  Dreams 

loaded  with  toy  horses;  I  helped  packing  up  the 
things.  Then  when  I  thought  of  looking  up  my 
friend  it  turned  out  that  I  had  lost  his  address.  I 
asked  a  girl  in  the  hall  for  the  man's  address;  but 
I  could  not  understand  the  girVs  talk,  although  she 
repeated  the  address  several  times.  I  thought,  how 
very  strange,  we  (Austrians  and  Germans)  speak 
the  same  language  and  still  we  fail  to  understand 
one  another.  Presently  I  saw  a  large  group  of  men 
and  women.  I  wanted  to  ask  one  of  these  women, 
for  the  address,  thinking  she  must  know;  but,  to  my 
joy,  I  see  my  friend  among  those  present.  I  walk  up 
flo  him  with  the  question:  "Have  you  also  madd 
your  purchases  this  evening?"  On  receiving  his 
affirmative  answer  I  added:  "7  would  have  been 
unable  to  look  you  up  because  I  had  forgotten  your 
address."  He  picked  up  a  box  of  cigars  and  offered 
me  one. 

The  dreamer  writes: 

"The  analysis  of  this  dream  is  very  easy.  A 
friend  invites  me  to  spend  a  'weiJievotte  Nacht'  with 
him.  First  I  come  across  some  Christmas  shopping. 
The  Christmas  trees  and  the  little  horses  are  to  be 
understood  as  representing  the  male  and  flemale 
genitalia;  the  hall,  where  I  see  all  these  wonderful 
gifts,  refers  to  incest  fancies  and  to  birth  phan- 
tasies ;  it  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  symbol  for  the  ma- 
ternal body.  My  homosexual  trend,  weakly  inti- 
mated at  the  beginning  of  the  dream,  is  very  adroitly 


Bisexuality  209 

and  most  fittingly  expressed  in  the  conversation  with 
the  girl:  'how  very  strange!  We  speak  the  same 
language  and  still  we  fail  to  understand  one  an- 
other.* Thus,  it  is  a  case  of  misdirected  love;  I  will 
never  'arrive  at  an  understanding'  with  the  girl;  the 
link  that  ties  us  is  nothing  less  than  the  male,  for 
whom  I  yearn  with  all  my  heart  and  for  whom  alone 
I  look — without  avail — through  woman.  The  dream 
does  not  end  at  this  point;  it  carries  out  openly  the 
thought  of  homosexuality  and  at  the  end  it  por- 
trays the  complete  wish  fulfillment.  I  am  happy 
that  I  am  not  forced  to  get  in  touch  first  with  a 
woman  for  my  man's  address ;  I  need  not  have  re- 
course to  this  round-about  manner  for  sexual  grati- 
fication, for  I  see  the  man  I  am  after,  himself,  stand- 
ing in  the  hall.  A  joyful  Christmas  now  for  me! 
And  how  can  we, — the  friend  and  I, — celebrate  the 
holiday  of  love  more  fittingly  than  by  uniting  our- 
selves in  love?  The  homosexual  union  is  actually 
carried  out, — the  friend  'offers  me  a  cigar.'  ' 

Thus  far  the  patient's  analysis.  It  displays  the 
whole  raw  side  of  psychic  hermaphroditism.  He 
meets  many  women, — an  acquaintance  among 
them.14  In  every  woman  he  looks  for  the  man.  He 
asks  her  for  the  male  friend's  address.  He  and 

14  In  other  words,  the  women  have  a  familiar  face, — his  be- 
loved mother!  The  expression  "darunter"  is  to  be  taken  not 
only  as  meaning  "among  them,"  but  literally.  The  image  of 
the  sweetheart  covers  the  overdrawn  memory-picture  of  his 
own  youth. 


210  Sex  and  Dreams 

the  woman  speak  different  jargons.  We  now  under- 
stand why  this  subject  never  married, — indeed  he 
had  never  had  a  serious  love  affair. 

He  is  a  Don  Juan  wandering  from  blossom  to  blos- 
som. He  is  continually  searching, — looking  for  him- 
self, because  he  identifies  himself  with  the  mother. 
He  plays  the  role  of  the  mother  searching  for  her 
only  child. 

Another  point  towards  the  elucidation  of  the 
case:  before  the  analysis  the  subject  was  unaware 
of  his  homosexuality  although  it  was  the  source  of 
his  neurotic  symptoms.  Now  he  knows  his  enemy 
within  and  this  insight  enables  him  to  cope  with  it. 

It  is  the  triumph  of  light  over  darkness. 


SYMBOLISM     OF    LEFT    AND     RIGHT     IN     DEEAMS THE 

COUSIN  AS  SUBSTITUTE  FOR  INCEST THE  FATHER 

MUST      LEAVE SYMBOLISM      OF      THE      SPIRAL 

DREAM    ABOUT    DIPLOMATIC    BEHAVIOR 


Das  ist  die  wahre  Symbolic,  wo  das  Besondere  das 
ATlgememere  reprasentiert,  nicht  als  Traum  und 
Schatten,  sondern  als  lebendige  a/ngenblickliche 
Offenbarung  des  Unerforschlichen. 

[True  symbolism  is  the  representation  of  the 
whole  by  the  part,  not  as  dream  or  shadow,  but  as 
the  living  momentary  revelation  of  the  Unknow- 
able.] 

Goethe 


X 

We  find  very  often  that  it  is  of  significance 
whether  the  dreamer  walks  to  the  left  or  to  the 
right  in  his  dream.  The  road  to  the  right  always 
means  the  right  road;  the  left  road,  is  the  path  of 
crime.1  Left  may  mean  incest,  homosexuality,  per- 
version, while  right  means  marriage,  etc.  The  im- 
plied values  always  reproduce  the  subject's  own 
scale  of  moral  standards.  For  instance,  intercourse 
with  a  prostitute  may  be  symbolized  by  the  left  path 
in  the  case  of  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  while  in  the 
case  of  a  free  thinker  who  is  repressing  incestuous 
fancies  the  same  relationship  may  be  represented  by 
the  right  road.  This  symbolism  of  position  has  been 
known  for  a  long  time.  In  his  ballad  where  the 
angel  is  represented  as  standing  at  the  right  and 
the  devil  at  the  left,  Burger  says :  "Lass  dich  vom 
guten  Engel  warnen  wnd  von  dem  Bosen  nicht  um- 
garnen."  "He  who  gets  out  of  bed  with  his  left  foot 
first  will  meet  with  ill  luck,"  is  a  popular  belief, 
signifying  of  course,  the  membrum  virile  on  that 
side.  The  legal  wife  is  at  the  right;  left,  means  an 

*This  fact  is  fully  dwelt  upon  by  Artemidoros,  loc.  cit., 
p.  50. 

213 


Sex  and  Dreams 

irregular  liaison.  I  have  always  found  that  the 
neurotic  vertigo  is  always  to  the  left  and  I  consider 
that  an  important  point  in  differential  diagnosis. 
Dizziness  to  the  right  is  suspicious  of  organic  dis- 
order. One  often  hears  the  neurotic  complain  that 
he  feels  himself  drawn  to  one  side.  Ask  him  towards 
which  side  and  he  invariably  answers:  the  left.2  In 
left-handed  persons  the  symbolism  of  right  and  left 
may  be  reversed,  as  I  have  had  occasion  to  find. 
Whether  this  may  be  actually  a  factor  conditioning 
the  psychic  determination  of  left-handedness  itself 
is  a  problem  which  remains  to  be  investigated  and 
further  analyses  of  left-handed  persons  are  required 
to  decide  the  point. 

The  perception  of  right  as  male  and  of  left  as 
female,  is  even  more  important  (Adler).  Flies s  3 
who  has  endeavored  to  formulate  a  biologic  basis 
for  bisexuality  found  that  the  right  side  means 
homosexuality,  the  left  side  heterosexuality. 

Aigremont  has  some  very  interesting  remarks 
about  the  symbolism  of  right  and  left  in  his  ex- 
tremely edifying  and  fascinating  study  entitled: 
Fuss-  und  Schuh-  Symbolik  und  -Erotik  (Deutsche 
Verlagsaktiengesellschaft,  Leipzig,  1909). 

'Occasionally  there  are  variants:  the  patient,  for  instance, 
turns  to  the  right  and  claws  the  air  in  the  attempt  to  reach 
some  support.  Sometimes  this  symptom  is  to  be  interpreted 
as  signifying  lack  of  confidence  in  the  marital  partner  or  in 
one's  relatives.  Also,  the  thought:  /  have  lost  all  support  in 
life!  may  be  thus  dramatized. 

*W.  Fliess,  Der  Ablauf  des  Lebens  (F.  Deuticke,  Wien). 


Right  and  Left  215 

The  dream  makes  copious  use  of  the  symbolism  of 
right  and  left,  as  I  shall  now  prove  by  a  few  ex- 
amples. A  patient  (compulsion  neurosis)  dreams: 

(60)  I  meet  Miss  F.  K.,  who  comes  towards  me 
arm  in  arm  with  a  man.  I  greet  her  with  great 
politeness  as  I  pass  by.  It  gave  me  a  jolt  at  first 
and  I  prepared  myself  for  the  greeting  at  the  proper 
moment,  namely,  I  changed  my  cane  from  the  left  to 
my  right  hand.  The  gentleman  and  I  exchanged  a 
peculiar  look. 

The  man  who  comes  to  his  mind  is  an  employee  in 
the  Sammenkontrolstation.  The  first  Sammenkon- 
trolstation  had  been  erected  by  his  father  who  also 
instructed  him  about  the  evils  of  masturbation  and 
looked  carefully  over  his  laundry.  Miss  Konig 
(King)  is  the  queen, — his  mother, — who  comes 
towards  him,  which  is  precisely  what  he  wishes  se- 
cretly; he  also  bears  great  respect  for  his  mother: 
"I  greet  her  with  great  politeness  while  passing  by." 
Further:  "It  gave  me  a  jolt  at  first,"  i.e.,  his  love 
goes  back  to  childhood,  to  the  time  when  his  mother 
bathed  him  and  put  him  to  bed.  If  he  misbehaved, 
his  mother  gave  him  a  little  push  and  shoved  him  to 
the  middle  of  the  bed,  between  herself  and  the  father, 
an  observation  post  which  seems  well  adopted  to  lay 
the  foundation  for  neurosis.  His  hatred  of  the 
father  dates  back  to  these  early  opportunities  for 
observation:  "The  gentleman  and  I  exchanged  a 
peculiar  look."  The  gentleman,  as  the  "owner," 


216  Sex  and  Dreams 

has  the  right  to  give  a  peculiar  look.  On  the  other 
hand,  Fritzi  King  is  the  only  girl  that  pleases  him 
enough  so  as  to  think  of  acquiring  her  through  mar- 
riage. Having  become  familiar  with  the  foundation 
of  the  neurosis  through  my  treatment,  he  wants  his 
cousin,  i.e.,  he  transfers  his  cane  from  the  left  to 
the  right  hand.  The  girl  cousin  4  is  typically  a  com- 
promise between  incest  and  permissible  love  attrac- 
tion; the  cousin  is  his  sister's  best  friend  and  the 
two  bear  the  same  first  name.  He  may  thus  indulge 
in  the  fancy  of  carrying  out  the  incest,  without 
coming  into  conflict  with  the  laws  or  with  the  moral 
code.  It  is  the  same  thing,  only  he  has  "transferred 
the  cane  from  his  left  to  his  right  hand." 

Here  is  the  dream  of  another,  severe  compulsion 
neurotic : 

(61)  I  ride  a  cycle.    My  cycle  keeps  twisting  to 
the  left;  finally  I  swing  it  to  the  right  with  all  my 
might  and  descend.    The  cycle  turns  into  an  animal 
which  seems  beside  itself  with  anger  and  it  grabs  my 
finger  in  the  mouth  as  if  to  bite  it.     Then  it  seems 
that   the  animal  has   only  its  fore-part,   as  if  the 
hind  quarter  or  a  portion  of  its  hide,  were  missing; 
therefore  the  creature  must  soon  perish." 

The  following  is  another  dream  of  this  patient : 

(62)  I  was  paralyzed  on  the  right  side  of  my 
body,  I  was  unable  to  open  my  right  eye. 

*Vid.  Abraham,  Die  Stellung  der  Verwandtenehe  in  der 
Psychologie  der  Neurosen.  Jahrb.  f.  psychoanalytische  For- 
schungen. 


Right  and  Left  217 

This  unfortunate  man,  already  in  the  later  fifties, 
is  still  fixed  on  his  seventy-year-old  mother  with  all 
his  emotions  and  yearnings.  He  cannot  marry. 
One  day  he  falls  in  love  with  a  girl,  and  the  next  day 
she  becomes  wholly  indifferent  to  him.  He  is  like 
one  paralyzed  on  the  right  side,  he  has  no  eye  for 
perceiving  the  charm  of  other  women.  He  is  unable 
to  use  the  right  eye,  he  sees  only  with  the  left.  Now 
we  may  also  understand  his  dream  about  cycling. 
The  cycle,  which  turns  into  a  beast,  is  his  passion, 
which  persistently  swings  him  to  the  left.  The 
mother  draws  him  to  herself.  He  holds  himself  "to 
the  right  with  all  his  might,"  i.e.,  he  has  recourse 
to  prostitutes  for  his  sexual  gratification.  The 
prostitute  is  the  opposite  of  the  mother  type;  she 
is  not  a  woman  to  him,  she  is  a  stranger.  But  he 
can  meet  one  only  once.  If  he  goes  to  the  woman  a 
second  time,  a  certain  relationship  asserts  itself  be- 
tween them, — she  becomes  an  acquaintance  and  re- 
minds him  of  his  mother.  Er  ist  dann  unfdhig  zu 
koitieren.  The  creature  which  takes  his  finger  in 
the  mouth,  as  if  to  bite  it,  is  his  mother  who  had  the 
habit  of  sucking  his  little  fingers.  He  himself  is  a 
bisexual  "Lutscher"  5  and  would  readily  carry  out 
fellatio  on  a  man.  His  most  significant  infantile 
phantasies  relate  to  the  anal  zone.  That  is  why 
the  animal's  hind  part  is  indistinct.  The  phantasies 

5  Many  a  mother's  boy  is  a  Don  Juan  with  strong  homosexual 
components.  Cp.  the  remarks  on  the  psychology  of  Don  Juan- 
ism  in  connection  with  case  28. 


218  Sex  and  Dreams 

are  in  fact  wholly  repressed.  His  mother,  too,  is 
very  old.  She  once  possessed  an  impressive  well- 
built  figure  but  now  her  body  is  shrunk;  he  is  par- 
ticularly struck  by  the  fact  that  her  hips  are  lean; 
she  is  wrinkled,  too;  her  skin,  once  so  smooth,  is 
now  withered ;  "as  if  the  hind  quarter  or  a  portion  of 
its  hide  is  missing;  the  creature  must  soon  perish." 
He  has  a  friend,  a  painter,  who  always  refers  to 
women's  skin  as  their  hide.  (Cp.  Fell,  Ger.,  skin, 
and  fellatio.) 

The  same  patient  brings  a  third  dream : 
(63)  I  sit  astride  on  an  old  piano  as  on  a  horse 
and  give  it  a  shake.  It  starts  moving  and  thus  I 
trot  along  a  shore  almost  to  the  house.  I  can  even 
play  the  piano  at  the  same  time.  I  meet  a  young  girl 
at  the  right,  on  the  left  I  come  across  a  man.  1  am 
afraid  that  the  thing  will  suddenly  break. 

The  old  piano  is  again  the  mother;  the  shore 
refers  to  a  birth  phantasy ;  the  shaking,  or  trotting, 
and  the  playing  need  no  explanation.  The  young 
girl  whom  he  meets,  is  some  one  with  whom  he 
was  once  in  love, — a  very  wealthy  girl, — and  he 
could  have  married  her,  but  for  his  awkwardness. 
The  man  he  passes  by  is  his  father,  who  is  dead  and 
whom  he  has  therefore  outlived.6  The  fear  that 

•  Gberholen,  to  overtake,  or,  to  outrun,  very  common  in  the 
sense  of  Uberleben,  to  outlive,  "Jemanden  auf  dem  Lebenswege 
einholen"  is  the  picture  which  individual  existence  suggests  to 
many  a  fellow  traveler  on  the  pathway  of  life.  The  end  of  the 
"long  lane"  is  death's  dark  door. 


Right  and  Left  219 

"the  thing  will  suddenly  break,"  is  wholly  justified. 
The  prospect  with  the  girl  broke  up  on  account  of 
his  incestuous  fixation;  as  a  child  he  had  a  tremen- 
dous fear  of  his  father,  which  is  the  more  justified 
in  the  dream,  since  he  plays  upon  the  father's  old 
piano.  His  mother  is  fragile,  very  ill, — she  may 
die  any  day.  Again  we  see  the  interplay  of  birth 
and  death;  the  mother,  who  had  given  him  life,  is 
now  about  to  die.  His  birth  was  such  a  severe  labor 
that  his  mother  nearly  lost  her  life.  In  this  dream, 
too,  the  right  side,  on  which  he  meets  the  girl,  rep- 
resents what  is  permitted,  heterosexual  married  re- 
lations, while  the  man  on  the  left  represents  the  sub- 
ject's homosexual  leaning. 

The  dream  of  another  patient  is  as  follows : 
(64)  My  father,  Miss  N.  and  I  were  at  a  place 
on  the  southern  railroad  (Hinterbriihl).  We  trav- 
elled afoot  and  met  a  man  leading  a  very  ungovern- 
able horse.  The  horse  reared  and  hit  me;  I  urged 
father  (and  Miss  N.)  to  hurry  out  of  the  way  but 
in  spite  of  that  they  did  not  move  from  their  spot 
to  the  right.  I  fett  down,  but  I  had  been  hit  only 
very  lightly  and  I  merely  felt  a  roaring  in  the  right 
ear. 

The  dream  does  not  end  here.  But  for  the  pres- 
ent we  must  limit  ourselves  to  a  brief  analysis  of 
this  portion  of  the  dream.  Frdulein  N.  was  a  gov- 
erness who  had  relations  with  his  father.  Southern 
railroad,  like  all  southern  places,  denotes  deep  pas- 


220  Sex  and  Dreams 

sion.  References  to  sun,  fire,  Spain,  Italy  indicate 
the  heat  of  passion.  Here  this  is  also  indicated  by 
the  name  of  the  place:  Hinterbruhl.  The  patient's 
immediate  association  is  bruler  (Fr.,  burning). 
This  is  a  reference  to  a  place  where  he  has  made  cer- 
tain intimate  observations  and  where  der  Hintere 
(the  posterior  part)  plays  a  great  role:  am  Abort. 
He  suffers  of  a  troublesome  itching  of  the  parts  and 
he  is  a  confirmed  anal  erotic.  The  expression  "we 
traveled  afoot"  refers  to  his  strongest  passion, — 
foot  fetichism.  The  man  they  meet  is  his  teacher 
who  was  also  his  first  seducer.  Through  that  man 
he  has  experienced  a  number  of  serious  traumata, 
partly  relating  to  the  posterior  parts,  and  these 
episodes  furnished  the  occasion  for  his  first  homo- 
sexual pleasurable  feelings.  Uncontrollable  horses 
always  mean  passion, — also  all  wild  animals:  lions, 
tigers,  mad  dogs,  etc.  Strict  oversight  by  his  father 
and  the  governess  disturbed  his  relations  with  the 
male  teacher,  with  whom  another  person  is  also 
fused:  a  slightly  older  playfellow,  who  indulged 
with  him  in  various  erotic  games ;  they  were  caught 
at  it  by  the  father  and  the  governess-teacher  and 
punished.  That  experience  inspired  him  with 
thoughts  of  revenge  against  his  father  and  these 
are  expressed  in  the  dream  with  the  thought:  "I 
urged  (him)  to  hurry  out  of  the  way  but  (he)  did 
not  move  from  the  spot.  .  .  .'*  Later  this  patient 
developed  an  attachment  to  the  father  which  was 


Right  and  Left  221 

morbidly  intense.  He  was  like  insane  when  his 
father  died;  his  anguish  was  immeasurable.  We  see 
that  his  extreme  love  rested  on  a  foundation  of 
equally  deep  hatred  and  was  compensatory.  In  the 
dream  the  father  lives  too  long,  he  asks  his  father 
to  hurry  off  but  his  father  does  not  stir  from  his 
place.  His  injury  is  on  the  right  side  of  the  breast, 
i.e.,  the  experiences  of  his  youth  have  disturbed  his 
feeling-attitude  towards  woman.  Those  occurrences 
are  linked  with  his  pronounced  impotence  forming  a 
closely  knit  complex;  for  his  first  act  of  sexual 
aggression  was  prevented  by  his  father;  he  was 
severely  punished  when  he  was  caught  (playing 
erotic  "games'*  with  the  young  man).  These  com- 
plexes are  unpleasant. 

Popular  belief  holds  that  clanging,  ringing  in  the 
ears  has  a  meaning.  "Did  not  your  ears  ring?"  is 
a  question  sometimes  addressed  to  one  who  was  the 
subject  of  a  conversation.  The  ringing  in  the  right 
ear  means  that  he  must  think  of  the  childhood  epi- 
sode when  going  with  women.  He  is  (sexually) 
lame  on  the  right  side.  But  that  serious  trauma 
is  portrayed  in  the  dream  as  trivial:  "I  fell  down 
but  I  had  been  hit  only  very  lightly," — is  the  way 
the  situation  is  expressed.  This  dream  shows  that 
references  to  homosexuality  are  associated  with  the 
left  side  of  the  body.  (This  corroborates  the  ob- 
servations of  Fliess  who  holds  that  many  homosex- 
uals are  left-handed.  According  to  Fliess  the  left 


222  Sex  and  Dreams 

always  represents  that  side.  In  a  case  of  neurotic 
anxiety  he  found  an  enlargement  of  the  left  pupil.) 

In  the  various  compulsions  the  symbolism  of  right 
and  left  plays  the  same  role  as  in  the  dreams.  The 
patient  with  the  characteristic  dream  of  being  in- 
jured on  the  right  side  by  a  small  horse,  also  suf- 
fered of  a  compulsion  which  manifested  itself  as  fol- 
lows :  he  solemnly  resolved  to  sleep  on  the  left  side 
until  he  passed  his  final  examinations.  This  resolu- 
tion he  has  carried  out  to  the  letter:  now  he  cannot 
sleep  except  lying  on  the  left  side.  The  examina- 
tion dream,  a  theme  which  will  be  taken  up  later,  al- 
ways means  the  sexual  test  with  woman.  Freud7 
does  not  quote  my  view  correctly  when  he  states  that 
my  interpretation  is:  the  patient  dreams  such  a 
dream  because  he  looks  forward  to  an  adventure 
(sexual)  and  fears  he  will  not  succeed.  The  fact 
is  he  dreads  the  whole  theme  of  love.  The  test  dream 
of  this  patient  showed  itself,  after  the  final  examina- 
tions, as  a  typical  recurring  dream: 

(65)  He  is  in  high  school  facing  the  examinations 
in  physics  and  mathematics  and  that  causes  him 
great  anxiety. 

But  I  do  not  want  to  dwell  here  on  this  dream  and 
its  associations ;  I  want  merely  to  point  out  that 
his  compulsion  state  has  been  somewhat  anticipated 
in  this  test  dream.  The  patient  resolved  to  sleep 
exclusively  on  the  left  side,  in  other  words:  he  pro- 
TThe  Interpretation  of  Dreams,  translation  by  A.  Brill. 


Test  223 

posed  to  have  to  do  only  with  a  man,  specially  until 
the  Maturitatspriifung,8  the  final  test,  when  he  may 
perhaps  discover  the  path  to  woman.  Thus  the 
symbolism  of  left  and  right  here  reproduces  his 
peculiar  compulsive  thought.  The  compulsion  was 
a  sort  of  expiatory  deed,  a  punishment  for  his 
sins.  Like  the  flagellants  he  undertook  to  punish 
himself  through  an  act  which  in  turn  became  a 
source  of  gratification  for  him. 

The  symbolism  of  even  and  uneven  (or,  straight 
and  crooked)  has  the  same  significance  as  left  and 
right.  Crooked  paths  in  the  dream  mean  precisely 
what  they  figuratively  suggest,  evil  ways,  and  they 
often  stand  for  the  subject's  perversions  and  for 
incest.  The  path  of  sin  is  frequently  represented 
as  a  serpentine  winding.9  Some  subjects  have  these 
dreams  very  often, — the  dreams  become  stereo- 
typic.10  Such  stereotypic  dreams  I  consider  the 
subject's  typical  dreams,  i.e.,  the  dreams  which  recur 
often  in  the  same  or  in  a  similar  form ;  usually  they 
contain  the  pattern-motive  of  the  neurosis.  Some- 
times these  dreams  penetrate  into  the  consciousness, 

8  The  final  examination,  upon  the  completion  of  the  high 
school  course, — Maturitatspriifung, — which  if  successfully 
passed,  entitles  the  holder  of  the  respective  certificate  to  join 
the  University  and  grants  him  other  privileges  (especially 
with  reference  to  military  service).  The  dream  here  is  a 
Maturitatstraum.  The  literal  meaning  of  Matura  is  obvious. 
[Transl.] 

•Serpentine  paths  are  also  representative  of  snake  as  the 
name  implies. 

10  Cp.  Chapter  XLII  of  this  work. 


224  Sex  and  Dreams 

— they  appear  as  day  dreams  and  yield  a  sense  of 
gratification. 

A  dream  of  this  type,  which  ended  in  pollution,  is 
the  following: 

(66)  I  dreamed  I  was  climbing  a  mountain  on 
which  there  was  standing  a  ruin.  When  I  reached 
the  top  it  seemed  to  me  I  was  but  a  rice  kernel,  or  a 
millet  seed  and  the  whole  mountain  seemed  made  up 
of  the  same  stuff.  I  let  myself  slide  down  and  the 
rapid  motion  gave  me  an  exquisite  pleasure  so  that 
I  had  a  pollution.  I  was  able  to  rouse  this  feeling 
also  in  the  day-tvme  by  fixing  my  gaze  on  a  given 
point;  I  would  think  I  am  a  seed  rolling  down  in 
serpentine  fashion. 

The  patient  represented  the  rolling  down  as  fol- 
lows: 

The  meaning  is  simple  enough.  On  an  elevation, 
Schamberg,  Mons  Veneris,  there  is  the  ruin, — urine, 
— bladder.  A  secondary  determination  is  as  fol- 
lows: the  ruin — the  decrepit  old  father,  who  has  the 
right  to  be  there  on  top, — is  ready  to  tumble  down 
or  fall  to  pieces,  according  to  the  patient's  wish, 
i.e.,  die.  What  rolls  down  is  the  seed,  and  it  rolls 
with  lightning  rapidity.  It  is  therefore,  the  repre- 
sentation of  a  sexual  act  and  naturally  ends  in  a 
pollution.  During  the  day  time,  through  the  auto- 
hypnosis  induced  by  staring  fixedly  at  a  given  point, 
he  is  able  to  bring  up  the  same  phantasy  and  induce 
the  same  result. 


Compulsive  Thoughts  225 

Another  neurotic,  who  lost  his  mother  at  birth, 
turned  his  mind  very  precociously  to  reflections  on 
eternity,  which  he  conceived  as  a  spiral.11  This  leads 
us  to  a  theme  which  we  must  consider  later, — the 
representation  of  life  and  death  in  the  dream.  The 
analysis  showed  that  the  subject  was  always  pre- 
occupied with  his  birth,  which  also  marked  the  death 
of  another  being.  Eternity,  death,  coitus  and  birth 
thus  became  for  him  fused  images.  A  compulsive 
thought  of  which  he  suffered  was:  wherever  I  come 
I  bring  misfortune!  He  became  a  murderer  in  the 
very  act  of  his  coming  into  the  world  and  he  fights 
off  violent  fancies  which  at  bottom  are  nothing  but 
the  representation  of  sexual  act.  In  his  dreams 
snakes  play  a  great  role, — he  sees  snakes  every- 
where,— so  that  an  acquaintance  has  facetiously 
nicknamed  him  the  "snake  man."  The  symbolism  of 
left  and  right  is  also  utilized  in  his  dreams  as  well 
as  in  his  compulsions.  If  he  takes  a  step  to  the 
left,  he  must  compensate  by  taking  three  steps  to 
the  right. 

The  theme  of  death  and  life  in  its  relation  to  the 
symbolism  of  right  and  left  is  illustrated  in  a  short 
dream  of  Mr.  Theta: 

MI  recall  an  abstinent  subject  who  thought  he  discovered 
the  solution  of  the  world  riddle  and  of  all  existence  in  the 
spiral  form.  In  this  case,  too,  the  spiral  was  the  symbol  of 
the  "Ewig  Weibliche,"  the  Eternal  Feminine.  Spiral,  screw, 
winding  stairway,  etc.,  express  sinfulness  and  birth.  Turning 
of  the  spiral  brings  the  same  side  into  view.  (Neurotic  phan- 
tasy of  the  eternal  return — des  Gleichen! — of  sameness!) 


226  Sex  and  Dreams 

(67 )  A  number  of  lanterns  (Japanese?)  hang  in 
a  row — one  at  the  left  catches  fire  and  burns  up. 

The  lanterns  are  a  number  of  women.  This 
dreamer  is  already  known  to  us  through  his  inter- 
esting dream  about  policemen  (No.  38;  cf.  also 
No.  37).  The  "burning  lanterns"  are  his  sisters-in- 
law  and  sisters,  his  aunt  and  the  servant  girl.  The 
left  (in  the  analysis  the  sister-in-law)  "burns  up." 
That  represents  fittingly  love  and  death.  The 
flame  goes  off, — the  person  is  dead.  (The  aunt  is 
dying.)  The  flame  consumes  itself:  the  sister-in- 
law  loves  him.  Lantern  (in  which  a  candle  is  stuck), 
symbol  for  woman, — like  lamp  and  candles. 

I  bring  to  an  end  this  series  by  reproducing  the 
dream  of  a  cultured,  aristocratic  person  of  high 
standing,  whose  dreams  are  so  complex  that  they 
tax  to  the  utmost  the  interpreter's  ingenuity.  His 
dreams  portray  the  strangest  combinations  and  the 
most  peculiar  transformations.  Thus  he  once  had 
the  following  dream: 

(68)  He  was  in  a  city  where  everything  was  topsy- 
turvy: the  law  of  gravity  was  reversed,  the  people 
walked  backwards,  etc. 

Having  alluded  to  the  difficulties  we  may  be  ex- 
cused for  not  dwelling  at  length  upon  the  analysis. 
Another  dream : 

(69)  Little    German    residential    town.      While 
strolling  through  the  wide  park  stretching  across 
the  hill  I  meet  two  women, — one  is  young,  the  other 


Transformations  227 

appears  elderly.  I  am  a  professional  diplomat,  a 
member  of  the  cabinet  (perhaps  Biilow).  I  regret, 
very  deeply  that  on  account  of  a  previous  engage- 
ment I  am  unable  to  escort  the  ladies.  But  we  con- 
verse standing;  I  entertain  them  for  about  forty  or 
forty-five  minutes.  Then  I  pass  on  to  the  right,  tak- 
ing the  broad  pathway  towards  the  temple  of  the 
Muses. 

Naples.    Climbing  up  some  stone  steps. 

.  .  .  Geld  (money)  .  .  .  schlagen  (striking)  .  .  . 
Riga. 

"Sie  hat  mir  ja  nie  gesagt  dass  sie  mich  lieb  hat." 
— "But  she  never  told  me  that  she  cared  for  me." 

When  he  told  me  the  dream,  he  related  first  that 
the  ladies  had  asked  him  to  go  to  the  left  instead  of 
going  to  the  right;  later  he  corrected  himself:  he 
was  asked  to  go  straight  ahead.  Subsequently  he 
recalled  also  precisely  how  the  road  looked.  It  led 
at  first  straight  through  a  forest  and  upon  the 
heights  it  branches  into  a  number  of  winding  paths. 
Serpentine  (winding)  has  a  definite  meaning  when- 
ever it  occurs.  It  means  a  "snaky"  path;  in  this 
case  it  would  be  the  path  to  the  left, — incest;  it 
would  be  seduction  by  a  daughter  of  Eve,  through 
the  snake,  as  in  paradise.  But  the  biblical  story 
recalls  also  the  temple  and  the  right  path  leading 
thereto, — distinctly  a  reference  to  marriage.  In 
fact  the  subject  is  interested  in  a  Jewish  woman  and, 
being  a  Christian,  he  finds  it  unpleasant.  1*he 


228  Sex  and  Dreams 

woman's  mother  in  particular  and  all  her  Jewish 
relations  he  finds  intolerable.  He  is  about  to  go  to 
Nauheim, — the  roads  about  the  place  remind  him  of 
serpentine  windings — to  become  formally  engaged. 
He  has  pronounced  resistances  against  this  step. 
Billow  refers  to  that.  The  day  before  he  read  that 
Billow  had  announced  his  resignation  from  office. 
He  too,  would  like  to  resign,  but  only  if  he  could 
carry  out  this  step  in  a  very  diplomatic  manner. 
This  wish  is  the  theme  of  his  dream,  for  as  he  re- 
calls, he  conducted  himself  with  the  utmost  courtesy 
when  he  expressed  his  inability  to  join  the  ladies. 

The  little  provincial  town  is  Gotha.  That  place 
suggests  new  associations.  Billow  has  married  an 
Italian  Countess.  For  some  time  he,  too,  has  main- 
tained intimate  relations  with  an  Italian  Countess; 
they  were  practically  engaged.  The  Italian  Coun- 
tess would  be  more  acceptable  to  his  family  than 
the  woman  who  owes  allegiance  to  the  temple. 
The  little  provincial  town  represents  the  place 
where  he  expects  to  be  called  as  professor.  He  ex- 
pects the  brevet  of  a  regular  professorship;  to  be- 
come a  regular  professor — he  is  now  ausserordent- 
licher, — depends  on  his  receiving  a  call. 

In  the  dream  he  is  a  professional  diplomat.  The 
call  depends  on  the  Secretary  of  the  State  Depart- 
ment of  Education  (or  minister)  who  has  full  dis- 
cretionary power  over  his  nomination.  Billow  also 


Interpretation  229 

means  the  musician  who  was  active  in  Meiningen 
and  who  left  that  town.  "Meinige"  (mine)  is  what 
he  calls  his  bride  and  he  wishes  to  leave  her.  But 
Billow,  the  musician,  found  it  easier:  for  Richard 
Wagner  simply  took  Cosima  away  from  him.  Co- 
sima :  reference  to  cosinus,  angle  of  40  to  45  degrees ; 
here  too  the  question  is  one  of  Gradminuten,  de- 
grees). Cosima  Wagner,  the  daughter  of  Liszt, — 
again  a  reference  to  diplomacy,  zum  Listigen  (to 
cunning, — trickery) — stands  here  in  contrast  to 
Mathilde  Wessendonk.  Wagner,  too,  has  renounced 
a  love ;  he  abandoned  Mathilde  Wessendonk  when  she 
grew  old  and  chose  another.  The  subject  is  also 
being  robbed  of  a  love:  one  of  his  sisters, — the 
favorite  among  his  sisters ! 

Only  now  we  find  out  who  the  two  ladies  were  in 
the  dream.  They  are  a  fusion  of  the  young  woman 
to  whom  he  is  about  to  become  engaged  and  the  fu- 
ture mother-in-law  with  his  sister  and  mother.  Nat- 
urally he  cannot  join  the  latter  through  their  path 
in  life.  He  can  only  entertain  them  for  a  time;  he 
did  it  standing.  Forty  to  forty-five  degrees  brings 
up  by  association  the  thermometric  degrees ;  no 
man  can  stand  a  degree  of  forty-five  of  heat 
(Celsius) ;  it  proves  fatal.  Forty  degrees  is  the 
highest  he  has  had.  His  sweetheart  wrote  him  she 
is  feverish;  he  is  thus  allowing  her  to  be  consumed 
with  fever.  He  has  allowed  himself  too,  to  be  con- 


230  Sex  and  Dreams 

sumed  with  fever  during  his  youth,  with  the  strong- 
est passion  possible:  his  senseless  incestuous  fever 
almost  ruined  him. 

In  the  dream  he  does  not  allow  himself  to  be  en- 
ticed to  the  left  path  road.  Instead  he  strikes  out 
upon  the  more  difficult  but  also  more  pleasant  road 
to  the  right  which  leads  upwards  and  towards  the 
temple  of  love.  There  all  the  muses  are  waiting. 
He  intends  to  build  a  home  which  shall  be  a  home 
for  art.  He  aims  to  attain  high,  lofty,  genuine  love 
and  to  extricate  himself  out  of  his  present  pre- 
carious sexual  situation.  At  any  rate  the  temple 
road  is  also  the  pathway  to  his  highest  ardor.  The 
lowermost  depths  he  reaches  across  the  stony  steps 
at  Naples.  Shall  the  marriage  come  to  naught  after 
all?  Or  should  he  marry  the  Italian  countess? 

"But  she  never  told  me  that  she  cared  for  me." 
The  words  .  .  .  money  .  .  .  striking  .  .  .  Riga  .  .  . 
seem  irrelevant.  But  forty  degrees  brings  forth  by 
association,  Regiomontanus,  the  thinker  of  Konigs- 
berg,  and  that  leads  to  Kant.  He  does  not  know 
whether  the  Ding  an  sich, — the  thing-in-itself — is 
worth  the  sacrifice  it  involves;  he  must  subject  the 
matter  to  the  Kritik  der  reinen  Vernunft,  the  Cri- 
tique of  pure  reason,  if  he  is  to  be  through  with  her. 
Riga  —  Rigorosum  —  Rigoros,  these  associations 
lead  "diplomatically"  to  erection,  erect,  and  refer 
also  to  potentia,  a  theme  already  intimated  in  the 
expression  "standing  up." 


Interpretation  231 

The  moment  he  comes  into  contact  with  a  large 
vagina  (broad  path)  his  potence  is  at  once  at  an 
end.  He  looks  perennially  for  something  diminu- 
tive: "a  little  residential  town."  That  leads  asso- 
ciatively  to  the  least,  the  narrowest  object  he  looks 
for,  and  it  proves  to  be — the  anus.  The  term  Geld, 
money  is  a  reference  to  that.  At  this  juncture  a 
mass  of  early  reminiscences  disclose  anal  eroticism. 

The  temple  bears  a  definite  relation  to  his  anal 
eroticism ;  it  reminds  him  of  a  story :  a  Jew  was  once 
ill  with  diarrhea.  Nothing  helped  so  he  had  tiUvm 
(psalms)  read  for  him  at  the  temple  and  that  helped 
at  once.  The  next  day  his  wife  was  standing  at  the 
window  looking  out  and  saw  another  Jewess  hasten- 
ing along  the  street.  "Where  are  you  running?" 
she  asked.  "I  am  hastening  to  the  temple,"  to  have 
tittim  said  for  my  poor  husband;  he  has  been  con- 
stipated now  for  the  past  ten  days."  "You  poor 
woman,"  shouted  the  first  one,  "nonsense!  Don't 
do  it.  I  know  better:  tillim  constipates." 

In  his  case,  too,  there  was  something  that  had  to 
be  loosened  up  or  freed, — specifically  his  fixation 
upon  the  anus. 

Now  we  understand  why  everything  in  his  earlier 
dream  was  represented  topsy-turvy.  He  lives  in  a 
large  city,  he  is  anything  but  diplomatic,  he  runs 
after  every  woman  he  meets,  escorts  her,  and  he  is 
not  always  satisfied  to  entertain  her  standing;  he 
does  not  "burn"  intensely  enough  and  he  is  drifting 


232  Sex  and  Dreams 

downgrade.  The  right  path  in  the  dream  is  really 
the  left,  and  the  latter  leads  into  the  temple  through 
a  small  opening;  and  now  for  the  first  time  we  find 
out  the  history  of  an  abortion.  At  Naples  he  had 
the  chance  to  secure  a  boy,  and  had  he  not  been 
strict  with  himself  that  episode  might  easily  have 
led  him  downwards,  "over  the  stony  steps  of 
Naples."  Now  it  occurs  to  him,  dass  er  beim  letzten 
Koitus  unwillkurlich  mit  dem  Finger  nach  dem  Anus 
gegriffen  hat.  Es  fattt  ihm  ein,  dass  er  nie  die  Va- 
gina treffen  kann,  wetl  er  sie  immer  tiefer  vermutet. 
Obviously  he  is  seeking  something  else,  namely  the 
anus.  Es  fattt  ihm  ferner  ein,  dass  er  beim  Koitieren 
wiederholt  die  Empfindung  hatte,  er  befindet  sich  in 
einem  zu  weiten  Raume,  and  whenever  that  happens 
he  is  unable  to  attain  ejaculatio.  According  to  my 
professional  experience,  this  form  of  coitus  sine 
ejacidatione  occurs  only  when  the  subject's  sexual 
desire  is  centered  upon  some  other  objective  than 
his  actual  possession.  In  der  Vagina  dachte  er  an 
den  A  niis. 

In  this  dream,  the  straight  path,  the  left  one, 
respectively,  to  which  the  women  want  to  turn  him, 
is  mediated  by  the  incestuous  feelings.  Every 
woman  is  in  part  his  mother  or  one  of  his  sisters. 
He  had  to  make  a  turn  of  forty-five  degrees,  as  was 
indicated  already  in  a  previous  dream,  where  the 
turn  was  fully  ninety  degrees,  i.e.,  a  right  angle 
face  about.  This  time  the  turn  about  is  but  par- 


Interpretation  233 

tial,  i.e.t  what  he  seeks  as  his  ideal  is  a  compromise 
between  man  and  woman.  Such  a  bisexual  being 
(Mannweib),  capable  of  replacing  at  once  brother 
and  sister  in  his  life,  is  the  bride  waiting  for  him  at 
Nauheim;  therefore,  in  spite  of  all  resistances,  he 
must  marry  her  and  carry  her  to  the  temple  of  the 
muses. 


XI 


THE     DREAMS     OF     A     DOUBTER THE     DREAM     ABOUT 

SWEETS THE     DREAM     ABOUT     STOLEN     BOOKS 

THE  SECOND  VERSION 


Es    gibt     Jceine    furchtbaren     Wahrheiten,     die 
Wahrheit  wirkt  immer  belebend,  wohltuend. 

[There  are  no  gruesome  truths,  truth  is  always 
helpful  and  refreshing.] 

Swoboda 


XI 

Before  relating  the  dreams  to  be  analyzed  in  the 
present  chapter  I  must  tell  something  about  the  sub- 
ject's preliminary  history.  He  is  a  severe  neurotic, 
Mr.  Sigma,  very  punctilious  in  his  professional  call- 
ing, forty  years  of  age,  in  love  with  a  pretty  young 
girl  who  is  poor.  A  typical  doubter,  he  feels  him- 
self bound  by  his  engagement  to  the  girl.  Taking 
advantage  of  her  absence  he  wrote  her  a  parting 
letter.  But  we  learn  that  this  letter,  breaking  up 
the  engagement,  had  been  dictated  by  his  sister, 
Rose.  (Regarding  his  relations  to  the  sister,  vid. 
Dreams  82  and  83.) 

His  great  worry  is  that  his  bride  is  poor.  Like 
all  those  who  have  been  brought  up  under  modest 
circumstances  he  is  anxious  to  live  well, — to  enjoy 
all  the  comforts  and  joys  of  life.  Soon  after  writing 
to  his  bride  the  parting  letter  he  found  himself  no 
longer  able  to  give  to  his  professional  duties  the 
requisite  attention  and  energy.  For  instance,  he 
found  himself  compelled  to  read  a  document  over 
ten  times  before  grasping  its  import.  While  listen- 
ing to  people  he  found  his  mind  wandering  away 
from  what  they  were  saying  or  he  asked  them  irrel- 

237 


238  Sex  and  Dreams 

evant  questions.  He  learned  the  Bohemian  lan- 
guage as  an  aid  to  his  profession  and  he  had  at- 
tained a  high  degree  of  proficiency  in  understanding 
and  speaking  the  language.  Suddenly  he  found  that 
this  knowledge  had  fled  from  him  and  he  was  help- 
less in  the  presence  of  Bohemians.  He  suffered  of 
sleeplessness  and  gastric  disorder;  his  disposition 
was  morose,  he  feared  insanity  and  sought  a  psy- 
chiatrist who  diagnosed  his  condition  as  neuras- 
thenia. 

In  the  midst  of  these  worries  he  began  to  regret 
his  treatment  of  the  bride.  He  reproached  his  sis- 
ter so  bitterly  that  the  latter  finally  wrote  the  girl 
suggesting  a  renewal  of  her  engagement  to  the 
brother.  Though  this  was  actually  done,  he  still 
continued  to  feel  depressed  and  his  condition  grew 
worse.  In  this  state  he  came  to  me. 

I  want  to  report  now  the  subject's  first  dreams 
because  these  give  us  a  deep  insight  into  the  char- 
acter of  this  neurosis  and  of  the  complex  mental 
processes,  which  our  psychiatrists  diagnose  as 
neurasthenia.  Incidentally,  I  may  mention  that 
since  I  have  become  accustomed  to  look  for  the 
psychic  conflicts  which  are  responsible  for  the  neu- 
roses I  have  not  seen  any  neurasthenia.  All  our  pre- 
vious ideas  about  overwork  and  hereditary  taint  are 
false;  and  the  notion  that  excessive  venery  or  mas- 
turbation may  be  responsible  for  neurasthenia,  or 
for  the  condition  hertetofore  called  neurasthenia, 


Conflict  239 

in  the  absence  of  a  psychic  conflict,  seems  to  me  also 
to  be  untenable.  I  have  discussed  this  theme  at 
greater  length  elsewhere.1 

The  patient's  first  dream  is  as  follows: 
(70)  I  am  standing  with  Mary  in  front  of  a  little 
table  and  I  drop  on  it  sweets  out  of  a  box.  The 
candies  look  like  great  pearls  and  little  stars,  white 
and  rose-red  in  color.  I  arrange  the  little  stars  in 
a  row  and  say  to  Mary:  now  choose! 

What  does  the  dream  represent?  He  offers  can- 
dies to  his  bride  bidding  her  to  make  a  choice.  He 
has  in  fact  suggested  to  her  an  early  marriage  and 
he  expected  that  they  will  soon  taste  the  joys  of 
married  life.  The  little  table  is  a  bed.  The  pearls 
and  candy  drops  (cf.  Freud,  Bruchstiick  ciner  Hys- 
terienanalyse.  Beit  rage  zur  Neurosenlehre,  vol.  II) 
are  spermatic  fluid.  But  in  the  dream  the  whole 
picture  is  tinctured  with  scorn.  For  the  first  asso- 
ciation which  occurs  to  the  dreamer  is  the  well 
known  Hofrichter  case, — an  army  officer  who  sent 
sugared  pills  to  his  colleagues  to  put  them  out  of  the 
way.  The  pills  while  supposed  to  be  aphrodisiacs 
contained  poison.  This  association  reveals  that 

the  dream  thought  conceals  the  idea  that  the  bride 
*The  condition  which  physicians  designate  as  neurasthenia 
is  a  composite  state.  The  conception  includes  anxiety  neurosis, 
anxiety  hysteria,  lighter  forms  of  melancholia,  compulsion 
neurosis,  Dementia  praecox  and  Cyclothemia.  In  addition  to  a 
disturbance  of  their  sexual  life,  these  persons  always  display  a 
psychic  conflict  and  that  constitutes  the  deepest  root  of  the 
neurosis.  Cf.  my  monograph,  The  Causes  of  Nervousness, 
authorized  English  Version  by  Jamet  8.  Van  Teslaar. 


240  Sex  and  Dreams 

should  poison  herself  through  the  sweets.  Poison- 
ing, in  the  language  of  dreams,  means  becoming 
pregnant;  he  entertains  unconsciously  the  idea  of 
extramarital  relationship  and  the  thought  has  also 
consciously  flashed  through  his  mind;  the  fear  of 
pregnancy  and  of  its  serious  consequences  breaks 
out  in  the  manifest  dream  content. 

The  intent  of  the  dream  becomes  even  clearer 
when  we  obtain  the  subject's  associations  to 
"pearls"  and  "little  stars." 

Pearls  suggest  to  him  tears ;  this  is  an  old  sym- 
bolism mentioned  also  in  Kleinpaiil's  little  dream 
lexicon  appended  to  his  interesting  work  Sprache 
ohne  Worte  (Language  without  Words). 

Little  stars  first  suggests  comet,  the  star  "with 
the  long  tail."  Next  there  comes  to  surface  a  re- 
markable symbolism:  sun  as  father,  moon  as  mother 
and  the  stars  as  the  children;  again,  therefore,  the 
thought  of  pregnancy.  Lastly  the  most  important 
features  of  the  starlets  occur  to  him:  their  sharp 
edges,  the  points  and  pricks.  The  dream  represents 
him  as  if  he  were  saying  to  his  bride:  Look  what 
awaits  you  in  marriage:  many  tears,  much  worry, 
abundant  needle  pricks  and  hurts  and  all  that  to 
pay  merely  for  a  bit  of  pleasure  (sweets). 

The  rose-red  color  is  important.  Rose  is  the 
name  of  his  sister.  He  hesitates  between  white  (the 
pure  bride,  Mary,)  and  Rose,  his  sister;  and  his 
doubt,  whether  to  marry  or  not,  goes  back  to  the 


Indecision  241 

inability  to  decide  between  Rose  and  Mary.  (This 
conflict  will  be  explained  more  fully  in  the  analysis 
of  subsequent  dreams.) 

Finally  row  (arranging  the  little  stars  in  a  row) 
reminds  him  that  the  bonbons  are  arranged  thus  in 
rows,  like  soldiers,  and  that  Mary  was  previously 
engaged  to  an  army  officer.  In  the  dream  he  again 
offers  her  the  choice  between  himself  and  the  army 
officer.  Reihe  (row)  also  brings  up  by  association 
Reue,  regret ;  he  thinks,  she  may  yet  regret  the  mar- 
riage. His  trouble  is  his  inability,  to  choose  between 
sister  and  bride.  In  the  dream  he  leaves  to  his 
bride  the  task  of  choosing,  thus  extricating  himself 
from  the  dilemma. 

Let  us  now  attempt  to  penetrate  more  deeply 
into  the  psychic  mechanism.  I  reproduce  here  three 
additional  dreams  of  this  subject: 

(71)  I.  I  have  borrowed  one  or  more  books  from 
the  library  of  deputy  V.  v.  Z.  But  I  also  had  a 
vague  idea  that  perhaps  it  was  my  mother  who  had 
secured  and  brought  these  books  for  me.  I  want  to 
keep  the  books  for  myself.  I  approach  stealthily 
the  box  where  the  records  are  kept  of  aU  outstand- 
ing books,  and  watching  for  an  opportunity  when  I 
am  unobserved  I  remove  therefrom  and  tear  up  the 
record  of  the  books  given  to  me. 

I  sneak  along  the  corridor  of  V.  v.  Z.'s  residence 
Which  is  situated  in  a  great  and  wonderful  apart-* 
ment  building.  I  feel  I  have  done  something  wrongt 


242  Sex  and  Dreams 

something  unspeakably  evil,  the  feeling  of  guilt  op- 
presses me,  and  I  would  like  to  remove  the  traces 
of  my  misdeed.  But  some  young  boys  are  standing 
around  along  the  opposite  side  of  the  corridor.  I 
think  they  are  talking  about  me  and  watching  me. 
I  want  to  break  into  the  room  (library).  An  un- 
explainable  dread  holds  me  back. 

(72)  II.    There  are  two  books.     One  is  at  my 
home;  the  other  I  took  to  Mary,  or  rather  I  hid  m 
her  home  without  her  knowledge. 

I  ask  Mary  for  the  book.  She  answers:  "Yes,  I 
thought  it  belonged  to  you,  I  brought  it  down  to  you 
several  times;  but  you  have  carried  it  back  to  us 
every  time.  Moreover  I  know  nothing  about  the 
whole  thing,  it  does  not  concern  me  at  all." 

(73)  HI.    I  am  summoned  to  Court.     A  soldier 
brings  me  the  summons.     I  tear  open  the  envelope 
and  I  gather  from  the  summons  that  I  am  to  appear 
before  the  Court  to  account  for  my  deed. 

I  am  trying  to  think  of  means  of  defense.  I  shall 
declare  before  the  Court:  "I  have  not  destroyed 
the  library  record, — mother  did  that.  But  my 
mother  has  not  done  it  with  evil  intent;  she  does  not 
understand  these  matters;  she  is  not  guilty." 

A  new  person  appears  in  these  dreams, — his 
mother.  His  guilty  conscience,  as  if  he  had  com- 
mitted some  crime,  pervades  strongly  the  whole 
dream  fabric.  Whenever  we  find  such  a  feeling  of 
guilt,  or  the  dramatization  in  the  dream  of  court 


Indecision  243 

complaints  and  accusations  of  theft,  the  analysis 
discloses  that  the  subject  is  reproaching  himself 
for  something  which  strikes  him  as  wrong  or  o!own- 
right  criminal.  I  have  already  mentioned  elsewhere 
the  significance  of  books.  Here  the  same  interpre- 
tation as  indicated  in  the  previous  dream  is  appli- 
cable; the  books  refer  to  the  man's  avarice.  He  is 
worried  because  his  bride  has  no  SparJcasseribiicher, 
no  Savings  Bank  books  ;  moreover  he  reproaches  him- 
self because  he  is  forced  to  accept  the  aid  of  her  sav- 
ings on  account  of  his  failing  health.  She  has  one 
savings  bank  account  and  that  she  has  placed  at 
his  disposal. 

But  that  does  not  seem  to  explain  the  dream.  His 
mother  is  poor,  she  has  no  connection  with  the  bride's 
savings  bank  book.  Here  the  second  meaning  of 
book  clearly  comes  into  play:  A  book  which  any 
one  may  read  is  a  symbol  for  prostitute.  Book  as 
symbol  for  prostitute  is  explained  also  on  another 
basis.  A  woman  who  turns  prostitute  receives  an 
official  "record  book"  from  the  police  department 
(under  the  European  rules  for  the  regulation  of 
prostitution).  The  Viennese  expression,  "she  has 
a  book"  (or  "a  booklet")  when  applied  to  a  woman 
means  that  she  is  under  the  control  of  the  Morals 
Department  of  the  police. 

Finally  the  term  book  brings  up  the  word  num- 
ber2 a  very  common  term  in  the  sexual  jargon.  In 

'  In  a  large  library  every  book  has  its  record  number. 


244  Sex  and  Dreams 

the  dream  he  seems  to  reproach  his  mother  for 
something.  He  would  like  to  wipe  out  the  memory 
of  some  occurrence  in  the  mother's  past  life  (den 
Empfangschein  zerreissen).  I  drew  his  attention  to 
this  fact.  A  number  of  traumatic  incidents  from  his 
childhood  come  to  his  mind.  He  once  surprised  his 
mother  in  a  rather  intimate  tete-a-tete  with  a  lodger, 
whose  name  bears  a  certain  resemblance  to  the  pre- 
viously mentioned  word,  Reihe.  His  name  was  some- 
thing like  Reihental.  Ritter  V.  v.  Z.  is  associated 
with  the  fact  that  the  man  has  the  reputation  of 
leading  a  very  loose  life, — also  his  wife.  When  they 
built  a  new  villa,  this  man  said  to  his  friends:  "I 
have  here  two  floors.  My  wife  receives  on  the  first 
and  I  on  the  second.  Or,  "my  wife  has  her  bordello 
on  the  first  floor,  and  I  keep  my  harem  on  the  sec- 
ond." 

Associations  lead  from  this  man  to  another,  Rit- 
ter von  X.,  with  whom  his  mother  was  on  rather  inti- 
mate terms.  They  were  neighbors.  Once  during  a 
terrible  quarrel  his  sister  accused  the  mother  of  hav- 
ing repeatedly  sneaked  over  to  the  "RUtter"  at 
night.  Here  he  identifies  himself  with  his  mother 
and  would  like  to  wipe  out  the  memory  of  this  mis- 
deed ;  for  he  thinks  that  the  whole  town  knew  about 
it  and  made  fun  of  it :  "Some  young  boys  are  stand- 
ing around  along  the  opposite  side  of  the  corridor. 
I  think  they  are  talking  about  me  and  are  watching 
me." 


Indecision  245 

But  the  reproaches  pertain  to  another,  more  pain- 
ful thought.  They  are  generated  by  the  incestuous 
leaning  towards  the  mother.  She  is  the  room,  the 
library  with  many  numbers,  she  is  the  box  in  which 
the  Empfangsscheinen  —  the  entries  —  are  kept 
(Empfdngniss  is  synonymous  with  gravidity).  He 
is  dominated  by  an  impulse  to  break  into  that  room 
and  we  may  now  appreciate  the  meaning  of  the  last 
observation  in  the  dream:  "An  unexplainable  dread 
holds  me  back."  The  expression  has  a  double  mean- 
ing. His  compulsive  hesitation  keeps  him  back  from 
his  mother  as  well  as  from  his  bride;  for  love  of  his 
mother,  and  its  parallel  outgrowth,  love  of  his  sis- 
ter, which  also  plays  a  great  role,  is  his  greatest 
stumbling-block,  preventing  him  from  taking  the 
step  of  consummating  a  marriage. 

The  second  dream  portrays  a  second  component 
of  his  hesitation,  namely  doubts  concerning  his 
bride.  On  account  of  the  painful  reminiscences  of 
his  childhood  he  fears  a  second  edition  of  the  same 
episodes  through  the  person  of  his  bride.  She,  too, 
may  prove  unfaithful  and  commit  various  misdeeds 
behind  his  back.  All  the  mistrust,  the  scorn  and 
doubt  generated  towards  his  mother  he  transfers 
upon  his  bride.  No  matter  how  often  he  says  to 
himself  that  his  bride  is  not  responsible  for  his 
mother's  conduct,  in  contrast  with  his  powerful  af- 
fects, his  intellect  proves  weak.  Any  one  reading 
the  dream  over  carefully  must  discern  at  once  what 


246  Sex  and  Dreams 

it  was  that  he  had  hidden  with  his  bride;  and  her 
defense  as  well  as  the  honesty  of  her  declaration  also 
become  clear:  "Moreover  I  know  nothing  about  the 
whole  thing,  it  does  not  concern  me  at  all  !'* 

In  the  third  dream  he  is  cited  to  Court  and  he 
must  defend  himself.  It  would  lead  us  too  far  to 
attempt  a  complete  analysis  of  this  dream.  The 
associations  disclosed  intimate  relations  with  an- 
other army  officer.  The  most  significant  feature  is 
the  dramatization  of  the  thought  that  he  must  de- 
fend himself  for  the  commission  of  incest  (his 
strongest  wish)  with  the  mother.  The  Landwehrge- 
richt  is  his  mother;  the  Vorladung,  citation  to 
court,3  corresponds  to  an  invitation, — Einladung. 
It  seems  he  is  trying  to  excuse  his  mother.  We  are 
on  the  tracks  of  a  terrible  family  tragedy,  some 
horrible  infantile  drama,  such  as  does  not  appear 
improbable  in  the  case  of  an  advanced  psychopathic 
personality  of  the  type  he  describes  his  mother  to 
be:  "But  my  mother  has  not  done  it  with  evil  in- 
tent; she  does  not  understand  these  matters;  she  is 
not  guilty!" 

Moreover  the  "citation  into  Court"  incident  in 
the  dream  corresponds  to  an  actual  threat  on  the 
mother's  part.  He  brings  to  light  terrible  family 
scenes  surpassing  nearly  everything  that  the  master 

'Gerichte,  Court,  in  a  double  sense;  it  stands  also  for  Ge- 
riicht,  rumor.  There  were  ugly  rumors  current  about  his 
mother. 


Interpretation  247 

hand  of  a  Zola  has  described.  He  and  his  sister 
in  the  endeavor  to  put  a  stop  to  their  mother's  scan- 
dalous hysterical  conduct  have  had  to  resort  to 
physical  force.  Horrible  fights  broke  out  and  his 
mother  threatened  to  complain  to  the  police.  .  .  . 
Thus  appear  at  close  range  the  persons  who  sit  in 
judgment  over  others. 


xn 


THE  SYMBOLISM  OF  LIFE  AND  DEATH  IN  THE  DEEAM 

THE    LONG    SHABP    SWORD    IN    THE    DREAM MAS- 
TURBATION      REPRESENTED       BY       POCKET THE 

MATRICIDE  IDEA BLOOD  FOR  SPERMATIC  FLUID 


Vivre,  enfin,  c'est  mourir. 
\To  live,  at  bottom,  means  dying  off.] 

Maupassant 


XII 

In  his  memoirs  of  the  Russian-Japanese  war  a 
Russian  military  surgeon  relates  an  interesting  epi- 
sode. It  was  just  before  a  great  decisive  battle. 
His  regiment  was  to  be  among  the  first  to  enter  the 
slaughter  at  early  dawn.  The  sleepless  soldiers 
pressed  around  his  tent  with  the  request  to  be  given 
some  remedy  against  painful  erections.  He  had  to 
prescribe  drastic  cathartics  to  draw  the  hyperemia 
towards  the  bowels. 

Similar  observations  have  been  made  during  the 
last  Messina  earthquake.  While  the  houses  toppled 
over  and  the  flames  broke  forth,  love  indulged  in  its 
most  abandoned  orgies.  No  chaste  virgin,  no  re- 
spectable wife  thought  of  resisting  the  desires  of 
the  frantic  men.  The  proximity  of  death  had 
roused  in  all  the  instincts  of  life. 

Recently  the  newspaper  related  a  touching  epi- 
sode. A  girl,  fatally  wounded,  spoke  up  to  a  pass- 
ing workingman:  "Kiss  me!  That  I  may  know 
love  before  I  die  !'*  These  were  her  last  words.1 

Where  death  looms  forth  the  instinct  of  life  also 

1  Arthur  Schnitzler  has  dramatized  this  motive  in  his  Ruf 
det  Leben*  (The  Call  of  Life). 

251 


252  Sex  and  Dreams 

asserts  itself.  In  the  fairy  story  about  Old  Uncle 
Death  and  the  Healer,  who  asks  for  a  new  flame  to 
replace  the  declining  flame  of  his  life  what  does 
Death  answer  ?  "I  cannot  do  it !  Some  flame  must 
go  out  so  that  another  may  be  lit." 

These  observations  have  led  Swoboda  to  formu- 
late a  law  of  "the  Conservation  of  Life."  2  "It  con- 
sists of  the  equivalence  between  life  and  death," 
states  Swoboda,  "and  in  virtue  of  it  the  shedding 
of  sexual  cells — for  every  sexual  act  need  not  nec- 
essarily lead  to  increase  of  life — involves  but  a  tem- 
porary decrease  of  life."  He  quotes  very  properly 
the  dictum  of  Celsius:  Semmis  emissio  est  partis 
animae  jactura. 

Thus  we  begin  to  understand  why  the  dream  often 
represents  coitus  under  the  picture  of  dying;  also 
the  remarkable  fact  that  in  the  dream  murder  may 
be  a  psychic  equivalent  of  the  sexual  act.  It  means 
possession  raised  to  the  nth  degree, — exclusive  and 
last  possession. 

Let  us  turn  to  these  principles  as  disclosed  in  the 
actual  analysis  of  dreams. 

A  very  fine-minded,  genial  woman,  painter, 
dreams : 

(74)  In  a  primitive  forest  there  stands  a  tall, 
spreading  tree.  From  a  branch  of  the  tree  spread- 
wig  far  out  there  hangs  a  long,  sharp  sword.  Be- 

*  Hermann  Swoboda,  Die  Periode  im  menschlichen  Orgamr 
itmus  (F.  Deutlcke,  Wien  u.  Leipzig,  1904). 


Life  and  Death  253 

fore  me  there  stands  a  man  whom  I  am  unable  to 
distinguish  clearly .  The  sword  hangs  between  its 
and  we  cannot  therefore  see  and  recognize  one  an- 
other. Stronger  and  warmer  grows  our  mutual 
longing;  with  a  powerful  grip  the  man  seizes  the 
sword  determined  to  drag  it  down; — I  shout  exult- 
ingly  and  throw  both  arms  in  the  air. — He  has  seized 
the  sword  too  hastily,  it  slips  from  his  hand  and 
pierces  me  through  the  heart.  I  sink  down  with 
the  sword  sticking  in  my  breast.  The  figure  of  the 
man  dissolves  like  a  shadow  and  I  am  alone  lying 
on  the  ground,  mortally  wounded. 

Does  this  dream  really  portray  only  death 
through  an  accident?  Through  a  man's  lack  of 
adroitness  ?  Not  at  all.  This  is  not  a  death  dream 
— it  is  a  dream  of  life.  "The  tall,  spreading  tree 
in  the  primitive  forest"  is  the  penis.  The  erection 
is  represented  as  a  long  sharp  sword.  "Stronger 
and  warmer  grows  our  longing*' — und  nun  fiihrt  er 
den  erigierten  Penis  in  die  Vagina.  Heart  and 
breast  serve  as  displacement  from  below.  .  .  . 

The  "shadowy  dissipation  of  the  figure'*  relates  to 
a  dead  person.  Her  greatest  love!  It  is  also  a 
raw  by-play  on  ejaculation.  .  .  . 

Remarkable  picture !  At  the  moment  when  she 
begins  to  live,  when  she  begins  to  know  life,  she  dies. 

Just  as  the  dream  knows  no  negative  in  general, 
it  recognizes  no  denial  of  life.  In  the  dream  dying 
means  usually  the  same  as  living  and  often  the 


254  Sex  and  Dreams 

greatest  life  urge  is  expressed  as  a  death  wish. 
Similar  psychologic  considerations  hold  true  also  of 
suicide  ;  3  even  the  choice  of  the  manner  of  self-de- 
struction is  influenced  by  certain  erotic  factors. 
This  thought  has  been  repeatedly  expressed  by  the 
poets  ;  philosophers,  too,  have  dwelt  on  the  intimate 
relations  between  Eros  and  Thanatos.4  In  the 
dream,  as  in  actual  life,  murder  is  often  a  crime  pas- 
sionelle  representing  nothing  more  than  a  sexual  act 
with  a  strongly  sadistic  coloring.  A  typical  dream 
of  young  girls:  they  are  standing  naked  on  the 
street,  a  big  man  attacks  them  or  sticks  a  knife  into 
their  abdomen.  I  have  already  analyzed  such  a 
dream.  In  such  cases  the  murderous  attack  por- 
trays a  forceful  defloration,  —  what  is  being  killed 
off  irretrievably  is  the  honor;  it  is  the  death  knell 
of  virginity  which,  again,  means  the  inauguration 
of  woman's  life.  Homosexuals  dream  of  attacking 
a  man  whom  they  knock  down  with  a  cane.  Dreams 
of  this  character  require  no  further  elucidation  on 
my  part. 

I  turn  now  to  the  representation  of  death  in 
dreams  : 

(75)  My  brother  is  to  leave  Vienna  (?).     He  hat 

*Cf.  my  statements  concerning  suicide  in:  Ueber  den  Selbst- 
mord,  Diskussionen,  vol.  I,  1910  (J.  F.  Bergmann,  Wies- 
baden). 

*The  well-known  thought  of  Euripides  is  an  excellent  illus- 
tration: Tfs  older,  €i  r6  £ijv  fj.ki>  (an  Karadaveiv  r6  KaraSave'v  81 


Who  knows  whether  life  is  not  a  dying  and  death  living?" 


Symbolism  of  Death  255 

already  packed  up  his  things  in  a  couple  of  trwnks 
and  several  hand  grips.  Then — he  was  not  to  leave 
till  late  at  night — he  went  to  the  Club.  Meanwhile, 
I  stepped  into  the  rooms  while  he  was  away  and 
found  furniture  and  things  stored  on  the  ground 
floor,  the  first  and  the  second  floors.  I  was  accom- 
panied by  an  old  watchman  who  looked  like  a  mu~ 
seum  attendant  and  who  wore  a  Bordeaux-red  uni' 
form;  also  he  carried  a  bunch  of  keys.  He  ex- 
plained  many  things  to  me  in  a  side  room  extending 
backwards,  which  was  very  dark,  there  were  a  num- 
ber of  red  covered  mattresses;  the  covers  had  white 
mother-of-pearl  buttons.  He  unbuttoned  one  of  the 
covers,  the  mattress  underneath  was  also  red  but 
there  were  no  buttons  on  it.  Now  the  museum  at' 
tendant  began  to  talk  very  animatedly:  "That  is 
like  the  conception  we  Norwegians  have  of  life  and 
death;  the  cover  is  life.  The  buttons  are  the  pleas- 
antnesses and  the  unpleasantnesses  of  our  existence. 
When  we  die  the  cover  slips  off  and  what  remains  is 
an  uninterrupted,  uniform  state  of  absolute  peace. 
That  is  the  highest  happmess.  Sleep  continues 
without  the  least  sensation,  unpleasant  or  pleasant, 
with  the  knowledge  that  one  is  dead  but  that  exist" 
ence  continues  beyond  our  earthly  life."  Then  he 
again  buttoned  the  cover  on  tlie  mattress.  I  wag 
very  deeply  moved  by  his  speech,  and  I  felt  a  strong 
longing  after  that  promised  state  of  absolute  peace 
and  there  came  over  me  that  feeling  of  rest  which 


256  Sex  and  Dreams 

partakes  somewhat  of  the  majesty  of  death.  Mean- 
while we  climbed  up  to  the  next  floor,  which  was  the 
attic.  There  we  found  only  some  old  lumber  and 
furniture  like  the  outfit  of  a  carpenter  who  might  be 
also  a  collector  of  antique.  Then  we  walked  down 
the  stairs  again.  I  found  it  was  late  and  I  wanted 
to  find  my  brother.  I  saw  him  on  the  street  on  a 
small  square;  I  was  in  doubt  whether  it  was  G.  or  my 
brother;  then  I  recognized  it  was  my  brother  by  his 
monocle.  1  returned  to  the  house  and  I  supervised 
the  loading  of  my  brother's  belongings  upon  a  hand 
wagon;  the  wrong  packages  were  brought  down;  I 
said  they  were  mine,  not  my  brother's.  It  happened 
twice;  then  finally  two  men  brought  the  baggage 
down  in  a  hand  wagon. 

It  would  not  be  possible  to  give  here  a  full  analysis 
of  the  dream;  that  will  be  done  in  connection  with 
the  study  of  the  respective  neurotic  trouble.  But 
the  most  important  features  may  be  pointed  out. 
The  patient  is  to  abandon  the  treatment.  Hence 
the  wish  to  leave  Vienna.  He  identifies  himself  with 
his  brother  who  lives  outside  Vienna.  His  brother 
is  a  lively  fellow  who  always  keeps  one  or  two  wom- 
en on  the  string.  He  envies  him  for  his  numerous 
trunks.  But  he  also  accuses  him  of  masturbation 
(handgrips).  Club  to  his  mind  is  a  place  where 
members  indulge  in  homosexual  pleasures.  The 
various  floors  refer  to  his  different  erogenous  zones : 
he  is  a  foot  fetichist  (ground  floor),  anal  eroticist 


Symbolism  of  Death  257 

(first  floor)  and  fellatio  (second  floor)  too,  plays  an 
important  role  in  his  dreams.  His  childhood  mem- 
ories are  represented  here  by  the  old  furniture. 
Especially  an  old  nurse,  who  had  mistreated  him  for 
years,  becomes  fused  with  his  servant  into  the  mu- 
seum attendant. 

Next  there  appear  anal  phantasies  which  revolve 
around  childhood  reminiscences.  The  words,  "he 
explains  many  things  to  me,"  refer  to  that.  The 
side  room,  "extending  backwards  and  very  dark,"  is 
noteworthy.  Mattresses  refer  to  a  number  of 
things.  First  the  name  of  the  servant,  next  to  the 
name  of  a  certain  French  woman;  there  is  also  a 
vivid  association  with  the  old  mattress  on  which 
Heine  died  as  the  result  of  syphilis, — a  disease  which 
one  acquires  through  sowing  wild  oats  carelessly. 
The  subject  suffers  of  syphilidophobia ;  "Ratzen" 
(Matratzen)  suggests  a  similar  train  of  thought: 
rats  spread  the  infection  of  plague.  The  buttons 
have  anal  significance,  referring  to  hemorrhoidal 
knots  but  they  also  suggest  the  glans  penis,  the  red 
(button)  head  which  is  especially  hyperesthetic  in 
his  case;  also  the  all-important  nipples. 

The  museum  attendant's  conversation  need  be  ex- 
plained here  but  briefly. 

"The  cover  is  life":  das,  was  auf  den  Penis  drauf 
kommt,  die  Vagina,  ist  das  Leben.  Reference,  also, 
to  the  prceputium.  He  is  afraid  to  draw  it  back. 
The  cover  or  covering  (Uberzug,  Uberzieher)  has 


258  Sex  and  Dreams 

also  its  over-determination  in  a  mechanical  device 
for  protection  against  infection. 

"The  buttons  are  the  pleasantnesses  and  unpleas- 
antness of  our  existence":  this  refers  to  the  pleas- 
urable feelings  and  the  pain  traceable  to  his  penis 
and  to  his  hemorrhoids,  respectively. 

Living:  means  also  erection;  when  the  membrum 
virile  subsides  it  is  like  dead:  when  we  die  the  cover 
slips  off  and  there  is  left  an  uninterrupted,  uniform 
state  of  absolute  peace,  i.  e.,  if  our  libido  subsides, 
so  brauchen  wir  die  Vagina  nicht  und  der  Penis  bleibt 
ruhig. 

"That  is  man's  highest  happiness":  in  that  way 
he  consoles  himself  for  his  impotentia.  He  has 
wanted  to  establish  a  new  religion,  founded  on  ascet- 
icism and  is  of  the  same  opinion  as  Tolstoy  in  these 
matters,  or  rather  he  was,  for  to-day  he  is  nearly 
well  and  he  has  practically  abandoned  that  ascetic 
ideal.  .  .  . 

One  knows  "that  one  is  dead  but  also  that  exist' 
ence  continues  beyond  earthly  life":  the  quiescent 
membrum  does  not  trouble  the  potent  man  because 
he  is  certain  of  a  resurrection. 

At  this  point  there  came  to  the  subject's  mind 
homosexual  phantasies  relating  to  his  brother  as 
well  as  to  myself ;  in  fact  the  museum  attendant  owed 
most  of  his  features  to  me ;  for  during  the  treatment 
I  am  his  instructor;  he  obtains  from  me  new  psy- 
chologic information.  I  am  represented  as  conclud- 


Interpretation  259 

ing  my  treatment  with  a  practical  demonstration,— 
intimated  in  the  unbuttoning  and  rebuttoning.  .  .  . 
And  his  emotions  are  not  surprising:  his  enthusiasm, 
his  boundless  yearning  for  the  promised  state  of 
blissful  peace,  finally  his  conviction  that  death  must 
be  something  majestic.  That  kind  of  death  merely 
means  living  the  life  of  a  free  man,  without  infantile 
inhibitions;  it  is  what  he  wants  to  attain  and  did 
attain  through  the  treatment. 

Further  phantasies  refer  to  his  brother  and  his 
membrum  virile.  We  perceive  that  inhibitions  are 
the  cause  of  his  vmpotentia;  the  baggage  plays  here 
a  great  role;  wrong  baggage  means  false  moral 
views  such  as  have  tortured  him  for  years.  Another 
meaning  of  baggage  is  genitalia;  this  points  to  mas- 
turbation, as  intimated  in  the  loading  of  the  baggage 
upon  a  "hand"  wagon. 

A  woman  dreamed: 

(76)  I  was  on  the  street  and  felt  dizzy;  very 
scared  I  shouted:  "Das  ist  der  Riickfall,  das  ist 
bestimmt  ein  Riickfall!  I  am  falling  backwards,  1 
am  surely  falling  backwards!  Now  I  shall  die!"  5 

'Riickfall,  of  course,  means  relapse.  In  the  dream  the 
woman  shouts :  "I  am  having  a  relapse !"  The  literal  transla- 
tion is  given  in  the  text, — "falling  backwards" — because  the 
dream,  as  there  shown  by  the  analysis,  revolves  chiefly  around 
the  latter  meaning  of  the  term.  But  the  idea  of  "relapse," 
with  the  implied  greater  ease  of  falling  backwards  (in  contrast 
to  the  woman  who  has  not  yet  "fallen")  and  with  the  addi- 
tional implication  of  the  wished  experience  being  already  some- 
thing fulfilled  also  lurks  in  the  background  of  the  dream  and 
supports  its  main  theme.  [Translator.] 


260  Sex  and  Dreams 

This  quiet  little  mother,  fifty-five  years  of  age, 
lived  very  sedately  until  her  only  daughter,  thirty- 
four  years  of  age,  suddenly  fell  in  love  with  a  man 
who  reciprocated  her  affection  and  married.  This 
roused  powerful  erotic  fancies  in  her  which  led  to 
severe  depressions.  She  envied  her  daughter  the 
husband  and  her  sexual  joys.  She  began  to  suffer 
of  dizziness ;  during  the  spells  she  tended  to  fall  to- 
wards the  left  side, — at  least  she  grasped  for  sup- 
port on  the  right.  The  attempt  to  support  herself 
usually  failed;  she  had  a  feeling  that  the  support 
was  not  strong  enough:  that  support  was  her  hus- 
band,— a  wholly  impotent  man  and  the  dizziness  rep- 
resented her  dread-and-wish  to  fall.  Falling  back- 
ward is  really  a  stretching  on  one's  back  and  this 
explains  in  a  simple  way  the  neurotic  fear  of  many 
women  have  of  slipping  backwards.  That  she  will 
surely  die  on  account  of  slipping  backwards  means 
really  that  she  is  going  to  live  once  more.  The 
dream,  interpreted,  means :  I  go  down  the  street  in 
search  of  an  opportunity  to  fall  into  sin,  I  fall  and 
taste  to  my  heart's  content ! 

Mrs.  Delta,  who  is  under  my  treatment,  dreams: 

(77)  It  is  evening,  dark.     The  girls  want  to  close 

the  shop.     We  hear  a  great  noise,  the  cry,  "Mother- 

As  in  the  above  instance  wherever  necessary  I  have  not 
hesitated  to  translate  terms  in  their  literal  sense  and  I  have 
occasionally  given  preference  to  a  somewhat  special  render- 
ing whenever  the  trend  of  the  associations  in  the  original  re- 
quired it.  (Van  T.) 


Symbolism  261 

murderer!"  and  many  persons  run  out  on  the  street. 
We  are  very  much  afraid;  a  procession  moves  slowly 
down  the  street,  carrying  strong  lights.  In  front 
there  are  priests,  all  in  white,  then  there  follows  a 
hearse,  also  covered  with  white,  on  which  the  mur- 
derer is  carried;  there  follow  a  throng  of  people.  I 
am  very  badly  scared  and  the  fear  wakes  me. 

Mrs.  Delta  is  subject  to  incest  phantasies.  The 
dream  revolves  around  her  much  beloved  son  who 
has  recently  married.  She  witnesses  his  funeral,  she 
sees  him  stretched  on  the  white  bier,  i.  e.  she  pictures 
to  herself  his  marriage, — the  bride  dressed  in  white. 
A  marriage  which,  in  her  judgment  involves  socially 
the  ruination  of  her  son, — at  any  rate  it  marks  the 
death  of  their  love.  What  she  expected  from  him 
was  Muttermord  (naturally  murder  in  the  sense  of  a 
sexual,  life-affirming  act)  ;  hence  her  powerful  hatred 
of  the  daughter-in-law.  Many  persons  signify  a  se- 
cret, priests  in  the  dream  often  mean,  by  a  reversal 
of  implications,  sensuality  clothed  in  white.  Belief 
in  and  the  fear  of  ghosts  betrays  a  similar  sym- 
bolism. Usually  the  dear  departed,  dressed  in 
white,  are  the  ones  who  reappear  as  ghosts  and 
cause  consternation. 

The  girls  want  to  close  shop;  in  addition  to  the 
homosexual  phantasies  which  this  evokes  the  remark 
also  expresses  the  subject's  regret  that  her  daugh- 
ters are  unable  to  gratify  their  sexual  needs.  (Cf. 
Dream  No.  25.) 


262  Sex  and  Dreams 

Transposed  the  dream  is  easily  interpreted:  It 
is  full  daylight.  My  boy  shows  tenderness  towards 
me  and  I  am  pleased,  etc.  Mrs.  Delta's  psychic 
hermaphroditism  is  expressed  also  in  this  dream. 

Beginners  are  easily  lead  astray  by  the  affects  dis- 
played in  the  dream.  We  have  already  seen  that 
love  may  represent  hatred,  irony  wonder,  etc.  We 
can  go  further  and  state:  Here,  too,  symbolic 
equation  is  operative  as  a  valid  principle.  This,  the 
fourth  symbolic  equation,  may  be  formulated  as 
follows:  All  affects  in  the  dream  are  equal  to  each 
other  and  may  substitute  one  another. 

Let  us  analyze  a  dream  illustrating  both  features : 
representation  of  life  and  death  and  the  fourth  sym- 
bolic equation. 

Miss  Delta  dreams : 

(78 )  I  come  to  the  birthday  anniversary  of  my 
friend  Christine.  I  have  not  brought  along  the 
birthday  present.  I  had  no  time  to  purchase  it. 
She  is  in  bed,  looks  very  pale, — like  a  wax  figure — 
and  that  makes  me  wonder. 

But  few  words  are  necessary.  Christine  is  the 
wife  of  the  man  she  longs  for.  The  dream  means: 
I  come  to  the  burial  of  my  friend  Christine.  I  have 
forgotten  the  floral  wreath.  She  died  so  suddenly 
I  had  no  time  for  it.  She  was  stretched  on  her 
deathbed,  pale  as  wax  and  I  rejoiced. 

Here  birthday  stands  for  death.  The  feeling  of 
surprise  or  wonder  stands  for  joyful  satisfaction. 


Symbolism  263 

A  woman,  thirty-four  years  of  age,  obsessed  with 
the  fear  of  apoplexy,  relates  the  following  dream : 

(79)  I  carried  my  dead  brother,  dressed  as  he 
was  laid  in  his  coffin,  with  the  aid  of  another  person 
and  we  were  about  to  place  the  coffin  in  the  grave 
with  the  body  stid  warm.  I  said  to  the  other: 
"See,  Franz  is  still  alive,  we  cannot  put  him  down.11 
There  were  many  other  burials  and  many  people 
around.  I  awoke  shuddering. 

She  lost  her  brother  to  whom  she  was  attached 
with  all  her  heart.  Her  only  consolation  was  an 
uncle, — the  other  person  in  the  dream.  She  has 
fused  brother  with  uncle,  a  typical  incest  compro- 
mise ;  she  is  so  deeply  in  love  with  her  uncle  that  she 
could  not  refuse  him  a  thing.  The  coffin  in  which 
every  person  first  lies,  is  the  maternal  body.  The 
same  symbolism  holds  true  of  grave  (das  Grab)  and 
in  this  connection  "graben"  carries  plainly  a  sig- 
nificant meaning,  like  "bohren"  (boring)  and  "ge- 
boren"  (born).  Thus  the  grave  stands  for  heaven; 
hence  the  close  connection  between  the  grave  and 
heaven  in  popular  belief.  The  idea  is  expressed  by 
Riickert: 

Du  meine  Welt  in  der  ich  lebe, 
Mein  Himmel  du,  darein  ich  schwebe, 
O,  du  mein  Grab,  in  das  hinab 
Ich  ewig  meinen  Kummer  gab 

and  even  more  clearly  by  SchiUer: 


264  Sex  and  Dreams 

Noch  kostlicheren  Samen  bergen 
Wir  trauernd  m  der  Erde  Schosg, 
Und  hoffen,  dass  er  aus  den  Sdrgen 
Erbliihen  soil  zu  schonerm  Los. 

In  the  above  dream  the  patient  sees  her  brother, 
the  membrum  virile  of  her  cousin,  as  it  was  in  the 
maternal  body  j  (dressed  as  he  was  in  his  coffin) : 
i.  e.  naked  and  she  wants  to  put  him  in  the  grave 
while  still  alive,  i.  e.  potent.  The  accompanying  af- 
fect pertains  to  the  abhorrence  roused  by  the 
thought  of  burying  some  one  alive.  But  the  affect 
has  been  displaced;  interpreted  it  means:  I  do  not 
want  to  put  my  husband — who  is  still  living — pre- 
maturely among  the  dead  by  changing  him  for  the 
uncle. 

"We  cannot  put  him  in":  this  has  the  double 
meaning  of  putting  in  as  well  as  of  betrayal  (or  un- 
faithfulness) ;  "ewen  tuchtig  hineinlegen,"  a  collo- 
quialism not  unlike  our  "putting  something  over"  on 
some  one,  means :  to  deceive  some  one.  "Many  peo- 
ple" means  "the  secret'*;  also  the  challenge  to  do 
it,  after  all.  "Many  burials"  means:  everybody 
lives  and  tastes  the  fruits  of  indulgence  und  legt  die 
anderen  hinevn,  why  should  you  alone  impose  such 
scruples  on  yourself? 

These  dream  thoughts  are  further  corroborated 
through  the  fact  that  her  present  husband  did  not 
get  along  at  all  well  with  her  deceased  brother  and 


Interpretation  265 

he  would,  in  fact,  thoroughly  deserve  the  punish- 
ment. Her  most  intense  desire  is  to  have  a  child, 
i.  e.,  to  be  a  coffin  herself.  She  cannot  expect  a 
child  from  her  husband  for  she  knows  that  he  is 
sterile.  She  wants  to  get  the  child  from  the  uncle, 
she  wants  to  "carry"  him  with  another  person ;  here 
"tragen"  "carrying"  has  the  meaning  of  being 
pregnant  (as  in  English).6 

An  abstinent  church  official,  suffering  of  depres- 
sions, dreams: 

(80)  I  sat  on  a  stool  in  my  father's  study* 
Suddenly  I  felt  pain  in  my  body  and  vomited  a 
stream  of  blood.  I  cried:  I  shall  die!" 

For  many  years  he  was  addicted  to  masturbation 
until  his  father  warned  him:  "If  you  do  not  give 
up  the  habit,  you  will  die."  Once  he  masturbated 
so  inveterately  that  he  caused  a  profuse  hemorrhage 
from  the  urethra.  During  recent  years  he  was  ab- 
stinent, but  he  developed  serious  neurotic  anxiety 
traits ;  he  has  a  most  uncomfortable  feeling  of  pres- 
sure and  of  pain  in  his  body  and  the  sensation  that 
something  sticks  inside  of  him  and  can  neither  get 
farther  in  nor  out. 

The  thing  that  sticks  and  cannot  get  either 
farther  in  or  out  is  his  penis.  Now  he  is  fighting 
with  a  resolution  to  have  sexual  intercourse.  "I 

•The  dream  portrays  the  phantasy — far  from  an  infrequent 
one — that  she  bore  and  had  given  birth  to  her  brother.  The 
effect  (shuddering)  is  the  expression  of  her  general  feeling- 
attitude  (yearning)  rather  than  of  horror  of  death. 


266  Sex  and  Dreams 

shall  die" :  this  expression  in  the  dream  means, — my 
abstinence  drags  me  down,  I  must  begin  to  live. 

This  resolution  he  actually  adopted  shortly  after 
the  dream.  With  the  aid  of  the  second  symbolic 
equation  the  dream  is  easily  interpreted:  I  am  with 
a  woman.  Suddenly  I  experience  enormous  grati- 
fication. I  shout :  Es  lebe  das  Leben.  (  Blood  for 
sperma;  dying  for  living.) 

His  wish  to  seek  regular  sexual  intercourse  was 
expressed  in  a  short  dream  which  I  reproduce  with- 
out analyzing  the  details  as  it  is  fairly  clear  from 
what  we  know  already : 

(81)  I  strolled  along  a  narrow  path  bordered 
right  and  left  with  bushes.  Some  little  distance 
from  the  road,  to  the  right,  there  stood  a  woman, 
apparently  waiting  for  me.  When  I  saw  that,  I 
turned  back. 

This  woman  was  a  prostitute  whom  he  had  been 
meeting  for  the  past  six  days.  Bushes  are  the 
devil's  device ;  and,  like  Luther,  he  would  consider  it 
the  devil's  work  were  he  to  stumble.  (To  stumble, 
German,  straucheln  and  Strauch,  bush;  there  is  thus 
an  additional  connection  between  bushes  and  stum- 
bling in  the  German,  based  on  semantics.)  The 
woman  stood  at  the  edge  of  the  bush.  The  sym- 
bolic representation  of  the  vagina — narrow  path 
edged  with  bushes — is  very  clear. 

But  the  subject  is  also  homosexual  and  the  chief 
cause  of  his  neurosis  is  his  leaning  towards  a  sister 


Interpretation  267 

in  whose  company  he  has  experienced  his  important 
trauma.7  The  dream  shows  that  he  still  has  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  resistance  to  overcome.  A  few 
days  later,  as  already  mentioned,  his  action  belied 
the  turning  back  incident  at  the  end  of  the  dream. 

T  It  may  cause  some  surprise  that  I  should  have  occasion  to 
dwell  so  much  on  incest.  But  I  cannot  do  otherwise  than  record 
conscientiously  everything  that  conies  to  my  attention.  The 
fact  must  also  be  taken  into  consideration  that  we  are  dealing 
chiefly  with  subjects  burdened  with  ill  health. 


xin 

SPEECH    IN    DREAMS THE    SYMBOLISM    OF    CONVERSA- 
TION  COLOR  SYMBOLISM  OF  ME.  S. 


Schlaf  ist   ein  Hinemkriechen  des  Menschen  in 
sich  Selbst. 

[Sleep  means  man's  withdrawal  into  himself.] 

Hebbel 


XIII 

Mr.  Sigma,  whom  we  already  know  through  some 
analyses  (vid.  Nos.  70,  71,  72,  73),  dreams: 

(82)  Mary  offers  me  a  breast-pin  as  a  gift.  1 
decline  it  saying:  "/  thank  you.  You  know, 
needles  bring  bad  luck  as  gifts.  Moreover  you  will 
get  a  better  (a  living,  warm)  needle  from  me. 

A  rule  established  by  Freud  is  as  follows:  Con- 
versation in  dreams  is  taken  from  some  actual  day- 
time conversation.  This  is  very  true  here.  The 
dreamer's  bride,  Mary,  brought  a  number  of  gifts 
for  his  sister;  but  she  retained  for  herself  a  very 
pretty  breast-pin.  The  dreamer  thought  she  should 
have  also  given  that  pin  to  his  sister,  Rose.  Mary 
said:  "I  cannot  do  that;  you  know:  needles  bring 
bad  luck  as  gifts." 

Another  recent  dream  instigator  may  be  men- 
tioned: at  an  outing  in  the  woods  the  bride  (after 
an  embrace)  remarked  that  she  lost  the  breast-pin. 
They  looked  for  it  but  in  vain. 

The  dreamer  admires  handsome  breasts.  His 
greatest  pleasure  is  to  suck  the  breasts  (hence  the 
symbolism:  breastpin),  an  act  distinctly  and  typi- 
cally infantile,  traceable  back  to  the  nursing  period. 

271 


272  Sex  and  Dreams 

Until  his  fifth  years  he  was  in  the  care  of  his  nurse. 
He  slept  with  her  in  bed,  played  with  her  mammae 
and  fell  asleep  with  the  nipple  in  his  mouth.1  The 
oral  region  is  his  strongest  erogenous  zone.  The 
dream  portrays  the  thought  (also  consciously  en- 
tertained) of  intercourse  with  the  bride  or  of  pro- 
posing fellatio  to  avoid  the  danger  of  pregnancy. 

Another  observation  by  Freud  must  be  mentioned 
in  this  connection.  He  states  (Bemerkungen  uber 
einen  Fall  von  Zwangsneurose.  Jahrbuch  f .  Psycho- 
analytische  Forschungen,  vol.  I,  1909) :  "Ex- 
perience teaches  us  that  dreams  sometimes  portray 
the  actual  theme  of  the  compulsive  inhibition,  etc., 
which  during  the  waking  state  is  traceable  only  un- 
der the  cover  of  a  distortion  and  displacement,  like 
a  cyphered  telegram.  These  themes  appear  in  the 
dream  as  conversations,  in  spite  of  the  rule  that 
speeches  in  dreams  are  reproduced  from  day-time 
conversations." 

Sigma,  with  whose  history  we'  are  acquainted 
through  the  analysis  of  previous  dreams,  suffers  of 
a  very  serious  psychic  conflict,  which  may  be  sub- 
sumed in  the  simple  query:  bride  or  sister  (Mary  or 
Rose)  ? 2  Every  detail  becomes  a  theme  of  doubt 

1  Once  when  he  had  a  cough  the  nurse  gave  him  her  own 
urine  to  drink  as  a  remedy.  An  example  of  symbolic  equation. 

'  In  all  cases  of  compulsive  doubt  I  have  found  that  the 
doubter,  during  childhood,  was  placed  between  two  persons 
to  whom  he  was  linked  equally  with  tiea  of  love:  mother  and 
nurse  or  nurse  girl,  mother  and  aunt,  mother  and  father. 
Mr.  Sigma  seeks  expression  for  his  conflict  in  the  typical  con- 


Compulsive  Thought  273 

to  his  mind:  he  doubts  himself,  his  bride,  his  sister; 
he  questions  whether  he  can  make  her  happy, 
whether  he  can  support  her,  whether  he  can  be  true 
to  her,  whether  he  will  be  able  to  gratify  her,  whether 
she  will  be  faithful  to  him,  etc. 

This  dream  shows  us  his  compulsive  thought. 
He  wishes  that  Mary  would  turn  over  to  Rose  the 
needle  (obvious  symbol). 

She  did  not  do  it.  He  takes  his  sister's  side. 
Mary  and  Rose  are  cousins, — a  typical  incest  com- 
promise. The  speech  applies  to  Rose  and  means: 
"Be  consoled.  True,  you  did  not  get  my  bride's 
needle,  but  I  have  another  one  for  you, — a  prettier, 
living,  warm  one!" 

The  compulsive  thought,  therefore,  of  which  he  is 
a  victim,  sounds:  love  thy  sister!  Against  this  im- 
perative he  struggles  with  all  his  might  and  the  con- 
sequences of  the  struggle  is  his  severe  neurosis. 

Is  the  sister  without  a  share  of  responsibility  for 
his  neurotic  condition?  One  reading  over  carefully 
the  subject's  other  dreams  should  be  able  to  form 
one's  own  judgment.  Before  he  undertook  the  jour- 
ney to  Vienna  (to  be  psychoanalyzed)  his  sister  said 
to  him:  "You  may  marry  your  Mary;  but  do  not 
be  surprised  if  I  should  then  find  a  sweetheart  for 
myself  and  become  intimate  with  him!"  This  fool- 
ish threat  on  the  part  of  his  sister  had  worried  him 

stellation.  The  old  theme— mother  or  nurse— is  brought  up 
now  under  a  new  form, — bride  or  sister? 


274  Sex  and  Dreams 

a  great  deal.  "It  would  be  his  greatest  misfor- 
tune:" Die  Schwester  soil  keine  andere  Nadel 
erhalten.  He  begrudged  her  having  any  one.  She 
must  remain  single.  He  is  jealous  when  she  enter- 
tains herself  in  conversation  with  other  gentlemen. 
Neither  does  he  want  to  give  up  his  bride.  He  does 
not  want  her,  either,  to  have  any  one  else.  He 
would  like  to  hold  on  to  both.  The  only  solution 
he  can  find  is  suicide:  that  would  end  once  for  all 
these  tortures,  wishes,  cravings  and  doubts. 

Another  dream  of  the  same  subject: 

(83)  I  see  before  me,  haunched  at  the  right  of  the 
window  sill,  a  little  yellowish-brown  monkey  caress- 
ing a  reddish-gray  dove  in  front  of  him.  Gazing  at 
them  I  have  a  feeling  that  the  monkey  will  sink  its 
claws  into  the  bird  at  any  minute  and  I  say  deri- 
sively: "You  would  like  to  eat  her,  wouldn't  you?" 

The  dove  is  the  kind,  bland  Mary  who  causes  him 
so  much  concern  (gray  dove).  He  once  said  to  the 
sister:  "You  would  drown  Mary  in  a  spoonful  of 
water  wouldn't  you!" 

Only  the  previous  day  his  bride  wrote  him  that 
she  is  visited  daily  by  the  sister  who  is  very  cordial 
with  her.  But  he  knows  that  his  sister  hates  the 
poor  bride  and  could  "devour"  her.  Er  hat  seine 
Braut  zum  "Fressen"  lieb.  He  wants  to  marry  her. 
(Right  side!)  He  thinks  he  himself  is  as  ugly  as 
a  monkey.  He  is  but  a  monkey.  He  follows  first 
his  sister's  and  now  his  bride's  bidding.  He  is  jeal- 


Compulsive  Thought  275 

ous  (yellow)  and  begrudges  his  sister  as  well  as  his 
bride  another  man. 

The  colors  have  here  in  this  connection  special 
meaning.  Reddish  refers  to  sadistic  trends.  Er 
freut  sich  auf  die  Defloration.  His  uncertainty 
whether  Mary  is  virgo  intacta  will  be  solved  soon 
after  the  marriage  ceremony:  Sie  wird  bluten 
miissen. 

Equally  significant  is  "yellowish-brown."  Brauner 
is  the  name  of  a  man  who  caused  an  alienation  be- 
tween himself  and  a  sweetheart.  He  was  very  jeal- 
ous at  the  time.  Gelb  is  the  name  of  another  man 
who  once  lodged  with  them.  This  man  was  a  great 
"Don  Juan"  who  brought  different  women  to  his 
room.  Once  the  patient  took  special  pleasure  to 
disturb  this  "Don  Juan"  just  after  he  had  taken 
to  his  room  an  especially  attractive  woman.  As 
loudly  as  he  could  he  sang  the  refrain:  "Indeed, 
love  is  a  wonderful  thing!"  and  other  snatches  of 
songs  of  like  character.  How  did  he  know  that 
Gelb  was  entertaining  a  woman  in  his  room?  "Be- 
cause the  walls  were  so  thin.  The  door,  too,  was 
not  noise  proof.  Moreover,  my  sister  drew  my  at- 
tention to  it." 

We  discover,  further,  that  his  sister,  too,  was 
rather  intimate  with  that  lodger  and  this  again 
made  him  very  jealous.  The  singing  proved  a  suc- 
cessful revenge  on  the  part  of  brother  and  sister. 
For  the  caller — supposedly  a  respectable  woman — • 


276  Sex  and  Dreams 

was  so  scared  that  she  left  the  man's  room  at  once. 
Gelb  threatened  to  beat  him  until  he  was  black  and 
blue  and  yellow. 

Reddish-gray  recalls  various  associations.  Grauer 
was  an  acquaintance  who,  without  his  wife's  knowl- 
edge, turned  twenty  thousand  Kronen  over  to  his  sis- 
ter for  her  dower  out  of  the  money  his  wife  had 
given  him.  When  the  wife  found  that  out  she  de- 
manded the  return  of  her  money  and  threatened  di- 
vorce. Roth  was  a  young  man  who  courted  Mary 
and  who  wanted  to  marry  her.  Finally,  the  last  as- 
sociation, Tauber,  was  an  officer  with  red  cuffs  (he 
had  previously  mentioned  that  the  dove  had  a  red 
glimmer  around  the  neck),  who  saw  a  great  deal  of 
his  bride  and  who  had  been  engaged  to  her  for  a 
short  time.  He  doubts  the  innocence  of  his  dove. 

Thus  the  colors  "yellowish-brown"  and  "yellow- 
ish-red" show  various  determinations.  Tauber  was 
without  means.  On  account  of  his  military  career 
he  had  to  break  the  engagement  with  Mary.  That 
love  was  hopeless. 

The  thought  of  giving  up  his  engagement  to  Mary 
is  also  a  part  of  his  own  speculations.  He  will  first 
have  her  and  then  put  her  aside.  His  sister  will  help 
him  get  rid  of  the  bride.  (See  the  Court  dream 
about  poisoned  candy!)  The  words  addressed  to 
the  sister  practically  mean:  "You  would  like,  best 
of  all,  to  poison  her,  like  'Hofrichter'  did  his  com- 


Compulsive  Thought  277 

rades." 3  Mary  wanted  to  poison  herself.  She 
was  prevented  from  carrying  out  the  deed.  The 
dream  intimates  all  these  possibilities.  The  face- 
tious remark  addressed  to  the  sister  is  really  a 
request  and  means:  "Take  her  off  my  neck  and 
yours.  Strangle  her  or  poison  her — but  make  me 
free." 

Fearful  regrets  and  thoughts  of  suicide  on  awak- 
ening. (Lex  talionis!)  His  sadism,  almost  bound- 
less, breaks  through  in  this  dream.  This  sadism  is 
not  only  psychic, — he  not  only  tortures  his  bride, 
his  sisters  and  all  others  around  him.  He  has  ac- 
tually broken  out  with  physical  violence.  He  has 
beaten  and  choked  his  mother.  Beating  his  sister, 
and  dragging  her  by  the  hair  was  a  common  occur- 
rence. And  he  is  afraid  he  will  also  beat  his  soft 
bride  once  he  makes  a  start. 

There  are  cannibalistic  trends  slumbering  in  the 
depths  of  his  soul.  He  is  like  a  predatory  beast 
that  would  fight  with  its  teeth.  He  bites  during 
coitus — he  could  perhaps  devour  his  bride  out  of 

8  How  often  compulsions  have  back  of  them  imperatives  re- 
lating to  the  subject's  family  circle !  A  man  consults  me  on 
account  of  the  torturing  compulsive  idea  that  he  must  put 
his  wife  out  of  the  way.  A  brief  analysis  discloses  that  his 
mother  and  his  wife  dislike  each  other.  Once  they  had  a  serious 
quarrel.  They  grabbed  each  other  by  the  hair.  His  mother 
said  to  him  at  the  time:  "I  do  not  understand  how  you  can 
get  along  with  your  wife.  Another  man  would  have  put  her 
out  of  the  way  long  ago."  This  hypothetical  imperative  on 
the  mother's  part  started  the  torturing  compulsive  idea;  the 
latter  disappeared  after  being  thus  traced  to  its  source. 


278  Sex  and  Dreams 

love.  He  is  the  yellowish-brown  monkey  ready  to 
gratify  its  cannibalistic  instincts  on  the  dove:  to 
possess  and  kill  her  in  the  act, — Sie  totend  besitzen! 
Again  we  come  upon  the  association  of  life  and 
death;  this  time  an  aggressive  variant  of  it: 
Besitzgreifen  und  Toten.* 

*  I  have  no  doubt  in  my  own  mind  that  all  jealousy  murders 
have  a  pleasurable  affect.  When  Othello  chokes  Desdemona 
he  carries  out  an  instinctive  urge, — er  vollzieht  an  ihr  den 
letzten  Geschlechtsakt.  Thus  revenge  becomes  for  him  most 
pleasurable.  Our  gratifications  involve  the  destruction  of 
others.  We  maintain  our  life  through  the  death  of  others. 


XIV 


EEPEESENTATION  OF  THE  EMOTIONS  IN  THE  DEEAM 

THE    DEEAM    OF    "GETTING    EEADY5' A    CLEEGY- 

MAN'S  DEEAM THE   EOOT   OF   FOOT   FETICHISM 

TEIUMPH   OVEE   THE   FATHEE DEEAM   THOUGHTS 

AND    COMPULSIVE    IMAGES INFANTILE    EOOTS    OF 

THE     FEAE     OF     CONTACT WHY     THE     DEEAMEE 

"WONDEES" 


Ein  dienst  zu  Nacht  ist  unser  Leben 
Genus s  ist  f aider  Wdchter  Traum: 

Vor  keinem  Hirngespinnste  beben, — 
So  leicht  es  kUngt,  kanns  einer  kaum! 

Feuchtersleben 


XIV 

There  are  in  fact  no  dreams  without  affects. 
Dreams  unaccompanied  by  affects,  or  but  slightly 
colored,  are  not  remembered.  That  the  dream  proc- 
ess begins  the  moment  we  close  our  eyes  seems  to 
me  self-evident.  Later  I  shall  give  a  few  examples 
in  connection  with  the  discussion  of  hypnagogic  pic- 
tures. We  always  dream  when  asleep.  When  the 
affect  becomes  so  strong  as  to  rouse  our  conscious- 
ness we  wake  up.  In  the  same  way  we  remember 
only  the  dreams  strongly  toned  with  affects.  Only 
such  dreams  enlist  our  attention.  In  fact,  atten- 
tion is  an  affectative  state,  as  Bleider  1  has  shown 
very  convincingly.  The  dream  is  but  an  interplay 
of  images  in  the  service  of  our  affects. 

The  affects  which  break  clearly  through  the  dream 
are  of  particular  significance  because  they  are  the 
repressed  affects. 

(84)  A  woman  dreams  her  husband  is  unfaithful. 

1  Affektwitat,  Suggestibilitat,  Paranoia.  Carl  Marhold, 
Halle  a.  S.,  1906.  Bleuler  states:  "Our  actions  are  probably 
influenced  exclusively  by  the  feelings  of  pleasure  and  of  dys- 
phoria;  logical  considerations  receive  their  strength  through 
the  effects  with  which  they  happen  to  be  linked."  In  the  same 
way  the  dream  is  not  an  interplay  of  thoughts,  but  a  struggle 
of  affects.  . 

281 


282  Sex  and  Dreams 

She  attacks  him  with  a  knife.  She  hurls  ugly 
epithets  at  him. 

In  the  dream  this  woman  gives  free  rein  to  a  tre- 
mendous feeling  of  hatred.  When  she  wakes  up 
she  is  happy  that  it  was  "only  a  dream."  But  the 
dream  discloses  to  us  the  fact  that  she  is  mistrust- 
ing and  that  she  hates  her  husband.  More  than 
that.  She  seeks  some  justification  for  her  hatred. 
This  woman  once  said  to  her  husband :  "If  I  should 
ever  find  that  you  are  unfaithful  to  me  I  would 
promptly  revenge  myself."  The  dream  pictures  a 
justification  for  her  hatred  and  furnishes  her  an 
excuse  for  following  the  trend  of  her  sexual  in- 
stincts. 

Thus,  whenever  an  affect  breaks  through  in  the 
open  it  always  yields  a  deep  insight  into  mental 
life. 

But  affects,  too,  are  deceptive.  Affects,  too,  may 
be  transposed;  substitution  plays  a  great  role:  re- 
spect for  scorn,  overvaluation  for  depreciation,  love 
for  hate.  I  take  this  opportunity  to  emphasize  that 
dreams  should  be  plain  even  without  the  transposi- 
tion. The  two  emotional  trends  coexist.  The  neu- 
rotic— like  every  human  being — is  moved  by  con- 
traries. All  symptoms,  all  the  manifestations  of 
human  thought  and  feeling,  are  bipolar.  Hate  and 
love,  respect  and  scorn,  confidence  and  doubt,  go 
hand  in  hand.  Any  affect  may  appear  either  ir  a 


Affects  283 

positive  or  in  negative  form, — either  with  a  plus 
sign  or  with  a  minus  sign.  Hatred  is  love  with  a 
minus  sign.  .  .  .  We  must  recall  here  the  fourth 
symbolic  equation.  The  affects  may  replace  one 
another. 

Often  the  dream  displays  an  affect  which  does  not 
fit  at  all  into  the  content  of  the  dream.  Freud  has 
discussed  this  theme  very  carefully  and  I  must  refer 
to  his  Trawmdeutung  (The  Interpretation  of 
Dreams,  authorized  English  translation  by  A.  Brill). 
I  may  add  only  that  in  many  cases  the  dream  affect 
is  extremely  treacherous  and  exposes  the  psychic 
conflict  almost  in  its  naked  terms.  I  am  able  to 
corroborate  the  rule  laid  down  by  Freud  that  in 
every  strongly  toned  dream  the  affect  is  always 
justified.  When  interpreting  a  dream  I  always 
start  with  the  affect.  In  this  way  we  find  out  how 
the  dream  material  has  been  masked  through  trans- 
position, shifting,  etc.  and  how  the  affect  becomes 
linked  to  irrelevant  elements  in  the  dream.  Trivial 
data  next  disclose  the  character  of  the  affect. 
Since  the  disturbance  of  the  affectivity  is  the  deep- 
est cause  of  the  neurosis  I  put  greatest  weight  on 
the  analysis  of  the  dream  affects..  Of  course,  there 
are  also  dreams  apparently  devoid  of  affects 
(Freud).  But  as  is  the  case  with  compulsive  acts, 
they  are  only  apparently  devoid  of  affect.  Inci- 
dentally, this  has  led  to  the  erroneous  view,  still  held 


284  Sex  and  Dreams 

by  many  psychiatrists,  that  the  absence  of  affect  is 
characteristic  of  compulsions.2 

The  following  examples  will  illustrate  how  the 
dream  affect  enables  us  to  obtain  a  deeper  insight 
into  the  structure  of  the  respective  neurosis. 

A  woman  patient  has  a  number  of  typical  recur- 
ring dreams:  every  time  she  gets  tremendously  ex- 
cited over  something  which  she  does  not  quite  at- 
tain. The  symbolism  is  obvious:  diese  Hetze  findet 
besonders  beim  Koitus  statt.  Ihre  Angst  ist,  dass 
der  Mann  zu  friih  fertig  wird,  before  she  attains 
the  libido;  her  perpetual  wish:  einmal  zurecht  zu 
kommen.  This  conflict  expresses  itself  in  a  dream 
as  follows: 

(85)  Preparations  to  go  out  for  the  evening. .1 
/  rush  back  and  forth  full  of  excitement.  I  open 
and  close  the  wardrobe,  various  bureau  drawers,  the 
writing  desk.  I  lay  out  my  gloves,  jewelry  and  the 
various  toilet  articles.  Every  little  while  I  think 
of  some  additional  little  thing  I  had  forgotten.  The 
round  of  opening  and  searching  begins  all  over. — 
Finally  I  stand  before  the  looking-glass  and  let 
down  my  hair  preparing  to  dress  it;  but  it  is  use- 
less. I  cannot  get  through  with  the  hair  dressing. 
Fatigued  by  the  hopeless  strain  I  lower  my  arms 
helplessly.  My  husband  is  fully  dressed,  ready  and 
waiting  for  us,  to  go  out  visiting.  I  hurry  from 

*8tekel,    Zwangszustdnde,    Ihre    Psychischen    Wurzela    und 
ihre  Heilwng.    Mediz.  Klinik.,  1910,  No.  5-7. 


Affects  285 

room  to  room  out  of  breath  but  I  do  not  find  it  pos- 
sible to  finish  my  toilette.  Finally  I  wake  up  ex- 
hausted. 

The  meaning  is  very  simple.  She  finds  that  prep- 
arations are  being  made  for  a  private  (secret)  en- 
tertainment (opposite  to  "Gesellschaft,"  society, 
i.  e,.  social  call)  by  her  husband.  She  gets  ready  her 
small  things  (jewels).  The  expression:  "the 
round  of  opening  and  closing  begins  all  over"  is  par- 
ticularly edifying.3  She  cannot  finish  her  hair 
dressing,  i.e.,  she  is  unable  to  attain  libido;  her 
whole  life  is  a  search  for  libido.  All  her  thoughts 
revert  symbolically  to  this  one  theme.  Frisieren, — 
hair  dressing, — is  a  well-known  expression  for 
coitus.  Preparing  one's  toilet  also  means  congres- 
sus  (sexualis);  it  also  means,  by  contrast,  undress- 
ing. Her  inability  to  "get  through,"  in  contrast  to 
her  husband,  is  the  basic  theme  expressed  in  this 
and  in  all  her  other  affectatively  toned  dreams.  To 
go  into  society, — to  be  received:  empfangen  werden 
— again,  leads  to  Empfangniss;  pregnancy.  Her 
most  bitter  disappointment:  she  is  childless,  there 
are  no  children  in  the  home,  no  companionship,  no 
KleinigTfeiten:  no  little  things.  Closet,  drawer, 
writing  desk,  glove,  jewel,  little  things, — these  are 
alike  symbols  for  the  female  genitalia.  Her  hus- 


*"Das  ofnen  und  Suchen  beginnt  von  vorn?'  "the  opening 
(of  drawers)  and  searching  begins  .  .  .  von  vorn,  over  again," 
but  also:  "in  the  front." 


286  Sex  and  Dreams 

band  is  already  waiting,  i.  e.,  he  is  ready,  or  rather 
through  (fertig)  before  she  is. 

Another  one  of  her  dreams  may  also  serve  as 
example : 

(86)  I  lie  abed,  HI  and  mwardly  agitated.  I  am 
worried  because  my  household  4  does  not  run  smooth- 
ly. I  muster  courage,  and  disregarding  the  state 
of  my  illness,  I  wrap  a  towel  around  my  head  and 
with  duster  in  hand  I  brush  and  clean  out  every  cor- 
ner. The  effort  exhausts  me  and  I  sigh  over  my 
helplessness  for  in  spite  of  my  labor  and  care  the 
work  does  not  get  done.  Everywhere  I  stitt  see  the 
old  disorder.  My  mother  appears  and  she  scolds 
me  for  trying  always  to  do  so  much.  I  beg  her  to 
help  me,  this  eternal  not-getting-through  hangs  over 
me  like  a  curse. 

The  mother  who  reproaches  her  stands  for  womb 
(Mutter:  mother  and  Gebdrmutter:  womb).  In 
this  dream,  too,  she  cannot  get  through.  That  is 
the  curse  of  her  life.  The  husband  is  through 
sooner.  He  is,  in  fact,  "all  through."  She  sighs 
over  her  husband's  impotence  der  bei  der  Arbeit 
kaum  den  Kopf  hineinsteckt.  What  is  the  use  of 
her  keeping  herself  so  clean,  would  it  not  be  bet- 
ter if  she  were  less  averse  to  moral  impurity, — per- 
haps the  frustrated  excitations  and  her  phantasies 
are  exhausting  her  and  make  her  ill?  In  the  next 

4  Symbol  for  the  phallus.    Popular  vulgarism:  Last  dir  deine 
Wirtschaft  ausbiirsten. 


Affects  287 

dream,  which  I  reproduce  as  complementary,  she  re- 
verts back  to  her  premarital  state.  She  is  again  a 
young  woman  in  a  position  to  choose  another — po- 
tent— husband : 

(87 )  I  am  again  a  girl  at  my  parental  home.  A 
great  feast  at  the  home  of  my  girl  friend;  her  en~ 
gagement  is  being  celebrated.  I  am  present,  not  at 
all  sad,  but  taciturn.  Most  of  the  persons  present 
misunderstand  my  behavior, — they  whisper  among 
themselves  saying  that  I  am  jealous  of  my  friend. 
I  merely  smile  with  an  air  of  aloofness,  for  I  am 
conscious  of  my  moral  superiority  and  inwardly  I 
resolve  to  marry  only  when  I  shall  meet  the  great] 
love  for  which  1  yearn. 

A  few  words  will  explain  this  dream.  Her  pres- 
ent husband  was  once  interested  in  that  girl  friend. 
She  turns  her  husband  over  to  the  friend.  Because 
of  her  experiences  she  does  not  envy  her  friend,  nor 
the  latter's  future  joys.  On  the  other  hand  she  her- 
self is  that  friend  and  she  sees  herself  retrospectively 
at  the  time  of  her  own  engagement  as  in  a  vision: 
"The  great  love  for  which  I  yearn."  It  is  a  dream 
within  the  dream;  by  this  means  she  nullifies  her 
hasty  marriage, — goes  back  beyond  it, — for  she 
would  now  marry  only  through  great  love.  Great 
love  is  the  love  of  a  great,  i.  e.  big  one  (German, 
gross  is  both,  great  and  big).  She  wants  to  be  pos- 
sessed by  a  big  one.  The  dream  is  a  very  pretty  wish 
fulfillment,  it  gives  her  back  her  youth,  her  freedom, 


288  Sex  and  Dreams 

it  enables  her  once  again  to  choose  her  love.  She  is 
single, — taciturn, — einsilbig.  One  word,  the  little 
word  Yes,  hastily  spoken  has  brought  her  lasting 
unhappiness.  This  time  she  wants  to  draw  a  great 
winner  in  the  marriage  lottery.  Her  husband  was 
a  blank. 

Dreams  in  which  the  subjects  "do  not  get 
through"  are  very  common.  The  dreamer  arrives 
at  the  theater  too  late  or  he  misses  the  train  just  as 
it  rushes  by.  These  dreams  form  a  contrast  to  the 
type  mentioned  above, — dreams  in  which  the  dreamer 
finds  himself  unable  to  get  through. 

One  of  my  patients  who  suffered  of  a  severe 
neurosis  was  tortured  by  the  thought  that  he  looked 
like  a  Jew.  He  was  also  afraid  that  his  mother 
might  be  killed  during  his  absence.  In  order  to  be 
ready  with  an  alibi  he  gathered  all  sorts  of  memo- 
randa, car  transfer  checks,  receipts,  etc.  Analysis 
proved  that  the  foundation  of  his  neurosis  was  his 
still  persisting  passionate  attachment  to  his  mother. 
Jewish  was  to  his  mind  synonymous  with  sensuous. 
To  mark  him  for  a  Jew  meant :  to  recognize  his  sen- 
suality. Therefore  he  is  subject  to  most  uncom- 
fortable feelings  when  he  walks  through  the  streets. 
He  thinks  that  everybody  is  looking  at  him,  that 
the  faces  show  mistrust, — and  this  has  caused  him 
repeatedly  the  most  painful  conflicts. 

(88)  This  subject  dreams  regularly  that  he  ar- 
rives at  the  station  just  as  the  tram  is  pulling  out. 


Affects  289 

He  hurries  excitedly  to  be  on  time  but  he  never 
succeeds. 

(89)  Or,  he  runs  after  an  electric  car  and  cannot 
reach  it.     He  had  the  habit  of  jumping  on  moving 
street  cars,  in  order  to  dodge  his  pursuers,- — he  said. 
In  addition  to  that  he  was  always  obsessed  by  the 
desire  to  catch  a  car  on  the  run.     Another  time  he 
dreamed: 

(90)  that  he  was  following  an  automobile  in  a 
wagon  and  could  not  reach  it. 

All  these  thoughts  are  based  on  the  fact  that  his 
mother  is  twenty-eight  years  older  than  he.  This 
is  the  tremendous  gap  which  he  is  unable  to  cover. 
His  wish  was:  "Oh!  if  I  were  the  father!  Oh!  if 
I  had  known  mother  when  she  was  young!"  His 
father  took  her  away  from  under  his  nose.  She  is 
ill:  he  knows  that  she  may  die  any  day  and  that  he 
will  never  possess  her.  Every  time  he  arrives  at 
the  station  with  so  much  baggage  that  he  cannot 
get  through.  This  baggage  is  particularly  typical. 
Nearly  always — although  there  are  no  fixed  symbols 
and  under  certain  circumstances  a  symbol  may  mean 
something  else — it  signifies  the  moral  burden  which 
one  carries  on  one's  shoulders.  Like  the  pilgrims  in 
Tannhduser  who  sing:  "Gar  schwer  driickt  mich 
der  Siinden  Last."  ("The  burden  of  sin  weighs 
heavily  on  me.")  On  account  of  his  heavy  baggage 
he  arrives  late.  In  the  dream  the  moral  inhibitions 
are  also  represented  as  baggage. 


290  Sex  and  Dreams 

The  thought  that  he  may  be  taken  for  a  murderer 
is  justified.  This  refers  to  his  feeling-attitude 
towards  his  mother.  His  favorite  reading  is  Dos- 
tojevsky's  Raskolnikow  (Crime  and  Punishment). 
Murder  also  refers  to  the  symbolic  representation 
of  a  dagger  being  stuck  into  the  victim's  body ;  tak- 
ing life  means  granting  life.  We  have  already  dis- 
cussed this  theme. 

Another  subject's  dream  dealing  with  the  same 
theme  is  the  following.  But  here  the  objective  is  a 
married  sister,  ten  years  older  than  the  subject: 

(91)  I  am  at  a  railway  station  and  worried  be- 
cause I  do  •  not  know  whether  it  is  the  right  one. 
After  this  worry  was  over,  I  thought  of  buying  a 
ticket.  In  a  pocketbook  I  find  a  gold  com  with  a 
large  10  on  it.  First  I  thought  I  could  not  use  this 
coin.  Then  I  decide  it  is  att  right.  At  the  same  time 
I  begin  to  worry  whether  I  should  catch  the  tram 
for  I  had  lost  time.  Going  towards  the  train  I  found 
that  I  had  entirely  too  much  baggage.  Some  of  the 
things  I  did  not  need  at  all.  Unfortunately,  the  bag- 
cj/a<g}e  that  I  was  willing  to  leave  behind  was  not', 
within  my  reach;  it  was  left  standing  at  one  end  of 
the  station, — at  some  distance.  I  did  not  know  what 
to  do.  Finally  I  signaled  to  a  porter  and  told  him 
to  take  and  check  my  baggage  at  the  "hand-grip" 
division.  I  shall  reclaim  it  there  upon  my  return. 
As  soon  as  I  was  through  I  rushed  to  the  train  but  it 
was  too  late, — the  train  had  just  started. 


Affects  291 

The  baggage  here  is  used  in  a  double  sense:  (1) 
the  genitalia  and  (2)  the  various  inhibitions.  His 
sister,  ten  years  older,  has  been  taken  away  from 
him  through  marriage.  We  shall  have  opportunity 
to  revert  to  the  meaning  of  the  number  10  in 
connection  with  our  analysis  of  the  symbolism  of 
numbers:  this  number  consists  of  1, — symbol  of  the 
penis  and  0, — representing  the  vagina.  The  number 
10  symbolizes  sexual  union,  which  the  subject  has 
not  carried  out  till  then,  for  he  was  a  masturbator.5 
That  is  the  reason  why  he  looks  for  the  coin  in  a 
pocketbook.  He  thinks  first  of  his  sister's.  Hence 
his  worry  whether  he  is  at  the  right  station, — his 
doubt  whether  he  can  or  should  use  the  coin.  He  is 
too  moral  to  commit  incest.  Indeed,  his  moral  scru- 
ples— he  is  a  theologian — prevent  him  from  carry- 
ing our  ordinary  sexual  intercourse.  He  has  never 
touched  a  woman,  except  his  sister,  once,  when  he 
was  twelve  years  of  age,  but  there  was  no  immissio 
penis.  The  expression  "was  left  standing  at  one 
end  of  the  station"  refers  to  that.  His  scruples  are 
clearly  expressed  in  the  dream  (doubt)  :  (a)  through 
his  worry  whether  he  is  at  the  right  station;  (b) 
through  his  hesitation  whether  he  ought  to  spend 

8  Ten  also  refers  to  the  hands  and  signifies  masturbation. 
In  popular  jargon  the  penis  is  actually  called  the  "eleventh 
finger."  As  this  dream  belongs  to  a  member  of  the  clergy, 
ten  here  has  an  additional  significance:  the  ten  commandments. 
In  connection  with  the  great  significance  of  religion  in  the 
determination  of  the  neurotic  symptoms,  the  figure  10,  among 
the  numbers,  is  always  important. 


292  Sex  and  Dreams 

that  coin;  and,  (c)  through  the  typical  expression: 
"I  did  not  know  what  to  do." 

This  dream  already  informs  us  that  the  subject 
is  unable  to  give  up  his  masturbation  habit  and  to 
assume  regular  intercourse  with  women:  that  is  the 
foundation  of  his  psychic  conflict.  The  path 
towards  woman  is  blocked  for  him  also  through  his 
incestuous  leanings  which  cause  him  to  lean  to  the 
opposite  direction, — towards  man.  The  missed 
train  has  the  same  meaning  here  as  in  the  dreams 
previously  analyzed.  He  will  never  reach  his  sis- 
ter. Hand-grip  refers  to  the  sexual  meaning  of 
"baggage"  6  for  genitalia.  He  has  "too  much  bag- 
gage." He  is  burdened  too  heavily  with  sexual  crav- 
ings. He  reverts  to  masturbation.  He  overcomes 
his  scruples. 

Masturbation  (hang-grip  division)  replaces  in- 
cest. That  is  the  reason  why  he  avoids  women.  The 
practice  of  masturbation  being  linked  with  inces- 
tuous thoughts  is  for  him  more  pleasurable  than  any 
other  erotic  experience. 

It  should  be  very  edifying  to  turn  now  to  a  dream 
in  which  the  affects  are  covered  up  (or  distorted). 

•The  male  genitalia  are  called  popularly  das  Packchen,  das 
Gemachte,  das  Gepack  (the  baggage)  and  finally,  also,  das 
Gewicht, — weight  or  burden:  Anthropophyteia,  vol.  II.  In  the 
same  way,  Koffer,  Ranzen,  Korb,  Kiste,  Sack,  Rucksack, 
Tasche  and  Handtasche  are  vulgarisms  for  the  female  geni- 
talia. The  expression  "baggage,"  used  in  a  sexual  sense,  is 
mostly  a  scornful  term. 


Nonsense  293 

Sometimes  things  which  the  dreamer  understands 
perfectly  well  in  the  dream  appear  mere  nonsense  in 
the  waking  state.  Here  we  have  the  opposite  of 
that:  a  dream  in  which  something  apparently 
baffles  the  dreamer: 

(92)  I  read  of  a  complaint  by  Mr.  X.  against 
Weihrich,  the  high-school  principal,  who  passed 
away  that  very  day.  There  were  three  counts  in  the 
indictment  and  Weihrich  was  found  guilty  only  on 
the  third  count  which  accused  him  of  walking  in 
sandals  and  of  something  else.  I  could  not  under- 
stand that. 

Later:  I  saw  a  photo  of  Gessmann  and  spoke 
with  Iwm  about  it. 

The  evening  before  the  dream  Beta  ate  dark  but- 
tered rolls,  called  in  Vienna  Bosniak,  or  Hadschi- 
loja,  after  the  name  of  a  Bosnian  insurgent  leader. 
Shortly  thereafter  he  vomited  and  felt  pain  in  the 
kidney  region.  He  thought  it  was  due  to  acids. 
All  acids  cause  him  to  vomit.  He  has  similar  pains 
followed  by  diarrhea  if  he  eats  soft  pears. 

The  analysis  discloses  important  associations  to 
school  principal  Weihrich.  First  the  associations: 
Weihrich, — Weihe, — Weiher, — Wei  (woe).  Asso- 
ciation with  X  (-feet)  Wei — and  Gessmann, — the 
well-known  antisemite, — scorn  against  his  physician. 
His  plaint  is  that  the  latter  has  robbed  him  of  the 
enjoyment-value  of  his  perversions.  He  feels  as 


294  Sex  and  Dreams 

if  plunged  into  a  dizzy,  cloudy  state  (smoke).  Diz- 
ziness leads  to  rocking.  He  recalls  that  as  a  small 
boy  he  was  once  rocked  on  the  knee  by  a  soldier. 

That  is  the  root  of  his  foot  fetichism.  Toe-suck- 
ing is  a  part  of  this  condition,  as  has  been  pointed 
out  by  Adler. 

The  subject  yearns  to  take  into  his  mouth  a 
dirty,  sweaty  foot, — especially  the  great  toe.  The 
symbolic  equation  displaces  foot  for  hand,  the  great 
toe  for  the  thumb  which  in  its  turn  stands  for  penis 
or  nipple.  This  leads  to  perversion  (fellatio)  and 
the  nurse  complex. 

Bosniak  is  a  Viennese  colloquialism  for  a  Bosnian 
soldier.  HadscJi^-loja  leads  him  to  hatschen=trnmp- 
ing.  His  vomiting,  pains  and  the  diarrhea  lead  back 
to  an  old  phantasy, — sticking  the  toe  into  the 
mouth  and  swallowing  the  perspiration  (butylic 
acid  =  butter) .  Waking  phantasies  just  before 
falling  asleep :  swallowing  a  big  foot. 

Another  determination  of  the  foot  fetichism:  he 
has  been  taught  to  regard  the  penis  as  something 
disgusting,  something  to  be  ashamed  of.  He  trans- 
posed all  the  libido  to  the  erogenously  endowed  foot. 

Gessmann  leads  back  to  the  English  term 
"guess."  I  am  the  one  who  is  merely  guessing, — 
who  knows  nothing.  The  photo  (my  picture) 
looked  to  be  a  very  poor  one.  It  was  altogether  too 
light.  Gessmann  is  dark.  White, — weiss — again 
leads  him  to  Schweiss, — sweat — and  to  his  idiosyn- 


Nonsense  295 

crasy  against  juicy  roast  beef.  In  the  hunter's  jar- 
gon blood  means  sweat.  Roast  beef  also  reminds 
him  of  perspiration, — avoidable  by  the  wearing  of 
sandals.  (Symbolic  equation:  blood,  sweat,  pus, 
saliva,  spermatic  fluid,  air,  language,  money,  etc.). 

There  are  three  features  in  the  dream:  (a)  his 
English  woman,  (fe)  his  brother,  (c)  foot  perspira- 
tion. From  the  first  two  I  have  already  weaned  him 
through  the  analysis ;  now  I  am  about  to  take  him 
away  from  the  last.  Hence  the  scornful  attitude, — 
hence  the  reproach:  foot, — flat  feet, — Weigeschrien 
(outcry).  Further  associations  lead  to  Eugene 
Sue's  Wandering  Jew,  and  this  again  to  suer,  Fr.t 
perspiration. 

But  he  himself  is  the  Ahasverus.  One  of  his  fav- 
orite phantasies  was  the  story  of  Ahasverus,  of  the 
Flying  Dutchman,  or  of  some  other  wandering  hero. 
His  phantasies  about  foot  are  masochistic,  revolv- 
ing around  the  idea  of  expiation. 

What  he  "cannot"  understand  is  what  he  learns 
through  psychoanalysis.  The  moment  he  under- 
stands it  his  compulsive  neurosis  is  over.  But  the 
infantile  compulsions  secure  for  him  much  pleasure. 
He  does  not  want  to  give  them  up. 

The  dream  contains  a  number  of  deep  affects.  It 
discloses  great  scorn  of  the  analyst.  But  all  this 
is  so  covered  up  that  the  dream  apparently  is  void 
of  affect. 

Finally,  I  am  dead.    He  relegates  me  to  the  ranks 


296  Sex  and  Dreams 

of  the  deceased.  Walking  in  sandals  means  joining 
eternity.  Sometimes  he  does  not  understand  me. 
Er  ist  ihm  etwas  zu  geistreich.  I  have  also  become  a 
ghost  (Gesstmann  =  Geistmann).  A  ghost  is  white, 
pale.  I  have  too  much  color  to  suit  him.  But  I  exist 
for  him  only  in  a  picture  (photo).  That  opens  a 
new  path  of  associations :  his  belief  in  the  reality  of 
the  devil.  I  am  the  devil  for  him.  I  am  rendering 
him  potent,  i.e.,  connecting  him  with  woman.  He 
wants  to  remain  an  ascete, — a  holy  man1.  He  is  con- 
tinually dwelling  on  situations  in  which  he  is  dealt 
with  unfairly.  He  is  invited  to  an  evening  enter- 
tainment. The  thing  is  called  off.  Immediately  he 
builds  up  a  serious  offence  out  of  it.  He  is  looking 
for  irrelevant  troubles.  He  likes  to  think  of  him- 
self as  suffering  unjustly.  After  the  evening  enter- 
tainment was  called  off  he  wrote  me  th§  following 
interesting  letter: 

"The  cancellation  of  the  entertainment  which  was 
due  to-morrow,  that  change  followed  closely  by  an- 
other change  of  plans,  has  caused  me  considerable 
depression,  although  I  find  the  postponement  of  the 
hunting  trip,  on  the  whole,  rather  pleasing,  for  hunt- 
ing always  makes  me  nervous.  Indeed,  even  the 
depression  was  not  without  its  pleasurable  feeling. 
The  disappointment,  the  setback,  brought  me  a  cer- 
tain measure  of  satisfaction.  I  am  masochistic. 
And  the  masochist  is  passive.  Woman  is  passive, 
man  is  active.  That  is  the  reason  why  the  maso- 
chist has  the  feelings  of  a  woman,  and  wants  a  man 


Day  Dreams  297 

to  dominate  over  him;  he  seeks  an  active  person; 
hence  the  preference  for  a  soldier, — an  active  sol- 
dier. The  chief  passive  pleasure,  the  chief  grati- 
fication of  the  masochist  is  the  'pati,'  the  'pas- 
sion,' hence  the  ideas  of  expiation;  his  worst 
Unlust,  action,  i.e.,  coitus. 

"As  a  child  I  must  have  been  the  victim  of  some 
great  injustice  which,  nevertheless,  gave  me  pleas- 
ure, and  now  I  am  evidently  always  trying  to  repro- 
duce the  situation. 

"And,  in  fact,  have  I  not  renounced  everything 
worth  while?  My  illness  is  an  expression  of  com- 
plete self  denial.  Ich  koitiere  nicht, — I  live  asex- 
ually,  I  hardly  meet  a  companion,  I  do  not  go  to 
the  theater,  I  shut  myself  up  more  and  more  away 
from  everybody,  engrossed  in  my  books.  My  feel- 
ing of  dread  protects  me  against  gratification.  I 
even  have  moments  when  I  wish  nothing  better  than 
to  die  off  and  be  wholly  forgotten:  the  highest 
masochism." 

During  these  deep  impressions  he  has  a  very 
remarkable  day  dream  phantasy: 

(93)  There  was  a  man  who  was  sentenced  on  a 
false  charge  of  murder.  The  strange  thing  was 
that  he  hardly  defended  himself  and  he  heard  the 
sentence  with  the  calm  of  one  who,  if  not  guilty, 
must  be  an  angel.  He  is  sentenced  for  life.  His 
behavior  in  gaol  is  so  wonderful  that  even  the  gaol 
guards  look  upon  him  as  a  holy  man,  he  consoles 
those  who  are  HI,  heals  them,  he  almost  works  won- 
ders. After  years  and  years  the  story  of  the  man's 
holy  character  reaches  the  gaol  commissioner  who 


298  Sex  and  Dreams 

pardons  him,  but  without  lifting  the  sentence.  The 
news  is  brought  to  the  man.  But  the  saintly  man 
has  lost  all  contact  with  life,  and  all  sense  of  its 
pettiness.  He  is  transfigured, — he  is  Christ  him- 
self; his  greatest  triumph  is  that  he  has  lost  his 
sexuality  through  samtliness;  he  is  sexless  and  like 
an  infinite  ray  of  light  drawing  heavenwards.  The 
commissioner  is  speechless, — unable  to  approach 
him  at  all;  he  continues  his  existence  in  his  own 
way. 

This  phantasy  discloses  the  roots  of  his  asceti- 
cism. He  complains  that  he  is  leading  a  sinful  life 
(  Weihr — ich) . 

The  term  Weihrich  is  very  ingeniously  chosen  by 
the  unconscious.  It  refers  to  his  devil-  and  smell- 
complex.  (The  devil  stinks.)  But,  as  Weihrauch, 
it  also  leads  to  the  holiness-complex.  The  commis- 
sioner (or  director)  stands  for  the  father.  The  lat- 
ter has  once  punished  him  unjustly.  This  is  the  in- 
fantile situation  which  he  reproduces  in  later  life: 
"Blessed  are  they  who  are  persecuted  for  righteous- 
ness' sake.  For  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.'* 

He  is  longing  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  He 
wants  to  reach  his  father.  Through  his  asceticism 
he  means  to  earn  for  himself  a  higher  place  in 
heaven.  At  this  point  we  find  that  Adler's  concep- 
tion is  corroborated.  He  wants  to  be  a  woman, — 
to  possess  no  penis.  But  these  female  trends  merely 
serve  the  purpose  of  enabling1  him  to  triumph  over 


Interpretation  299 

the  father.  He  wants  to  join  eternal  life  and  therein 
triumph  over  his  father.  He,  a  holy  man,  his  father 
a  sinner.  He  wants  to  raise  his  voice  against  his 
father  (director)  before  the  divine  stool. 

But  what  is  the  reason  for  his  antagonism 
towards  the  father?  It  is  the  old  rivalry, — over 
his  English  governess.  The  latter  was  his  greatest 
love.  After  the  nurse,  the  governess  was  the  dearest 
person  to  him.  She  could  not  be  friendly  with  any 
one  else.  That  made  him  mad.  His  father  was 
rather  more  than  warm  in  his  attitude  towards  the 
English  governess.  Beta  has  had  opportunity  to 
observe  and  listen  to  a  number  of  things,  small  and 
big,  which  made  his  blood  boil.  How  could  that 
be?  His  Mary  kissing  some  one  else?  It  hurt 
his  feelings;  it  roused  in  him  bitter  thoughts  and 
fancies  of  revenge.  A  little  child  is  helpless  against 
the  adults.  But  with  some  poison  he  might  easily 
revenge  himself  on  his  enemies.  Hence  the  nausea 
and  vomiting  and  the  diarrhea  after  eating  Hadschi- 
loja.  The  father  was  a  Pasha, — he  owned  a  harem. 
His  masochistic  thoughts  are  compensations  for  the 
criminal  tendencies  of  his  childhood. 

Furthermore,  I  am  the  director  against  whom  he 
complains.  Chiefly  on  account  of  the  third  point 
(or  count) :  III  point — III  illness — III  =  third  sex 
— homosexuality.  His  hatred  is  unrequited  love. 
Who  would  have  suspected  this  array  of  affects  back 
of  that  dream? 


300  Sex  and  Dreams 

The  next  dream  is  also  rich  in  affective  coloring 
and  belongs  to  a  compulsion  neurotic,  Mr.  Gino: 

(94)  A  steamboat  arrives  in  our  harbor;  I  want 
to  dodge  to  the  right,  but  cannot.  I  go  to  the  left, 
on  a  country  road.  Many  people  run  around  scared, 
shoutmg:  something  terrible  is  happening!  I  feel 
the  same  way.  I  am  in  uniform  and  I  come  upon  a 
little  boy  who  presses  a  big  dagger  in  my  hand. 
Terrified  I  shout:  "away  with  you,  dream  ghost" 
And  he  promptly  disappears. 

The  little  fellow's  name  is  Teller.  The  affect  of 
the  dream  is  expressed  by  the  many  people  run- 
ning around  and  shouting:  "Something  terrible  is 
happening!"  We  know  that  "many  people"  means 
a  secret.  He  has  the  same  feeling!  The  horrible 
thing  that  is  about  to  happen,  is — a  murder;  he  is 
given  a  dagger  by  the  boy.  During  his  early  child- 
hood he  had  overheard  coitus  between  his  parents 
(Entry  of  the  steamer  into  port)  ;  he  wanted  to  fly 
away  from  this  memory,  namely  to  the  right,  but, 
instead,  he  drifted  to  the  left.  He  wears  his  uni- 
form; it  reminds  him  of  his  military  service  when 
he  had  severe  crises  of  illness  and  so  that  he  was 
finally  discharged  on  account  of  neurasthenia. 
Wearing  the  uniform  m  the  dream  means  being 
naked,  for  nudity  is  the  only  uniform  which  makes 
all  men  equal — uniform.  Clean  underwear  is  also 
represented  in  the  dream  as  a  speckled  uniform. 
During  his  military  service  period  he  also  had  the 


Interpretation  301 

compulsive  thought  of  knifing  some  one.  The  great 
burden  of  his  compulsion  was  the  murder  of  his 
brother  or  of  his  father.  .A  painful  thought,  there- 
fore in  the  dream  it  is  portrayed  as  a  dream  ghost. 

"Away  with  you,  dream  ghost !"  means  he  does 
not  at  all  entertain  the  thought, — it  was  only  a 
dream, — a  dream  occurrence  which  we  have  consid- 
ered already  in  connection  with  some  illustrations. 

The  little  fellow,  whose  name  was  Teller,  he  at 
first  identifies  as  Amor,  later  as  representing  the 
penis,  das  Heinzelmdnnchen,  der  Ddumling  and 
finally  as  the  Schneiderlein.  Teller  first  recalls  to 
his  mind  the  act  of  cutting  meat  on  a  plate  (Teller= 
plate)  ;  also  a  maid-servant  who  broke  a  plate;  also 
Tiller,  a  manufacturer  of  uniforms  where  he  had  se- 
cured his  uniform;  also  to  tell  (English):  Tuttel, 
female  breasts ;  further,  tailor  (English)  ;  and  that 
leads  him  to  an  English  fairy  story  about  some 
clever  little  tailors  who  bound  down  a  giant  with 
their  tapes.  He  had  already  thought  of  Wilhelm 
Tett,  the  slayer  of  Gessler.  Tell  is  linked  also  with 
Johann  Parricida.  Since  the  terrible  deed  that  he 
was  about  to  commit  was  nothing  less  than  murder 
the  dream  affect  appears  thoroughly  justified.  The 
dream  also  discloses  the  influence  of  a  castration 
fear.  He  had  been  threatened  with  castration  on 
account  of  masturbation.  He  wants  to  retaliate  with 
bloody  revenge. 

He   is   a   man   continually  harboring   murderous 


302  Sex  and  Dreams 

thoughts  against  his  people.  Always  uncon- 
sciously, of  course.  Every  electric  car,  every  local 
train,  every  horse  is  a  possible  death  messenger. 
The  steamer  may  run  down  a  little  boat.  Once  his 
father  and  his  brothers  nearly  encountered  just  such 
an  accident.  One  may  meet  robbers  on  the  country 
road.  Bicycle,  automobile,  street,  stormy  weather, 
poison,  infection — all  these  served  his  murderous 
ideas.  But  his  wish  has  turned  into  anxiety:  he 
fears  he  might  hurt  others — injure  them — perhaps 
infect  his  hands  and  thus  spread  poison. 

Formerly  he  entertained  thoughts  of  murder.  He 
thought  of  attacking  his  mother  and  of  knifing 
her.  Out  of  revenge.  Because  she  turned  her  love  to 
a  girl  child.  Through  yearning.  Because  such  a 
murder  represents  symbolically  the  expression  of 
violent  possession.  He  expiates  for  these  murder 
instincts  with  his  neurotic  tortures.  He  finds  him- 
self in  the  attitude  of  a  murderer  grasping  a  knife 
and  he  does  not  want  to  contemplate  the  picture. 

Freud  has  repeatedly  emphasized  the  identity  of 
the  dream  thoughts  with  the  various  neurotic  com- 
pulsions. I  want  to  give  one  additional  example.  A 
patient,  while  at  a  health  resort  with  his  brother 
had  the  feeling:  "I  cannot  stand  it  any  longer.  I 
shall  jump  at  him  and  knock  him  down !"  The  anal- 
ysis disclosed  the  vestiges  of  a  powerful  infantile 
attachment  to  that  brother.  The  feeling:  "I  cannot 
stand  it  any  longer,  I  shall  jump  at  him,  knock  him 


Interpretation  303 

down  und  per  annum  benutzen,"  is  here  turned  into 
anger.  Fear  (of  self)  is  often  turned  into  anger. 
This  conversion  is  particularly  clear  in  the  infan- 
tile form  of  anxiety  neurosis.  Children  who  fly 
easily  into  a  temper,  are  victims  of  an  excessive 
fear.7 

Another  example. 

A  medical  student  fails  at  an  examination  and 
acquires  a  great  hatred  against  his  examiner,  Pro- 
fessor Zuckerkandl.  Among  the  various  ways  in 
which  his  wild  fancies  conceive  revenge  is  the  fol- 
lowing :  he  is  intimate  with  the  man,  that  is,  on  equal 
footing,  and  asks  him  that  er  ihm  durchkommen 
lasse.  He  also  harbors  the  fancy  that  the  professor 
is  under  obligation  to  him  for  some  service.  He 
need  only  remind  the  man  of  his  debt  of  gratitude. 
This  patient,  Zenta,  has  the  following  dream: 

(95)  I  find  that  Prof.  Z.,  whom  I  consider  re- 
sponsible for  my  misfortune,  is  really  a  close 
acquaintance  of  mine.  I  meet  him  and  he  treats  me 
in  a  very  friendly  and  obliging  manner.  I  am  cer- 
tain that  Z.  is  bound  to  me  by  certain  moral  obliga- 
tions. I  try  to  give  him  to  understand  in  an  in- 
direct way  that  since  we  are  such  close  acquaintances 
and  in,  view  of  the  fact  that  he  is  under  obligation 

*  Here  we  note  the  biologic  root  of  the  fourth  symbolic  equa- 
tion: "Any  affect  may  replace  any  other  affect  in  the  dream." 
Fear,  anger,  fury  and  doubt  may  substitute  and  vicariously 
replace  one  another.  The  agoraphobiacs  lose  their  fear  of  open 
places  while  angry. 


304  Sex  and  Dreams 

to  me,  his  conduct  ought  to  be  more  pleasing.  I 
did  not  disclose  that  he  had  behaved  very  hinter- 
listig — tricky — towards  me.  But  he  showed  me 
further  reaction  whereas  I  spoke  to  him  as  I  would 
to  a  person  holding  a  great  social  position  (Cabinet 
officer,  or  something).  On  account  of  his  high 
social  position  I  have  avoided  in  my  conversation 
with  him  all  references  to  his  duty  and  my  Durchfall 
— examination  failure.  The  dream  was  strongly 
emotional. 

At  once  we  recognize  that  this  person  of  high 
social  standing  is  none  but  the  father  with  whom 
his  relations  are  very  cordial.  He  is  very  courteous 
in  his  attitude  towards  his  father  but  at  the  same 
time  regards  him  as  the  original  cause  of  his  neu- 
rotic trouble.  The  father  is  obviously  anal  erotic 
and  has  preoccupied  himself  to  a  suspicious  extent 
with  his  son's  anal  functions. 

In  the  dream  he  finds  that  the  examiner  to  whom 
he  ascribes  his  misfortune  (misfortune  at  trial  with 
woman,  for  he  is  impotent  with  woman  and  a  mas- 
turbator,  i.e.,  misfortune  with  reference  to  the  true 
test)  is  really  a  close  acquaintance.  An  acquaint- 
ance who  has  once  bribed  him  with  sweets  and  to 
whom  he  owes  all  sorts  of  early  erotic  pleasures. 
"He  treats  me  zuvorJcommender  Weise";  that  is  lit- 
erally true.  He  has  a  vague  notion  that  it  is  his 
father's  moral  duty  to  take  care  of  him,  for  is  not 
the  father  responsible  for  Hs  misfortune?  The1 


Interpretation  305 

dream  discloses  the  wish  to  tell  his  father  so, — at 
least  in  some  indirect  way.  He  expects  a  Jculanteres 
behavior, — ein  kulanteres  Benehmen.  The  associa- 
tions are:  cul, — popo,  with  which  is  also  associated 
the  term  "hmterlistig"  (cunning)  in  the  sense  of 
some  one  lusting  (lustemd)  for  the  posterior  parts. 
The  high  social  position  refers  to  the  father,  while 
Durchfall  (failure,  but  literally,  a  "falling  or  pass- 
ing through")  links  anal  functions  to  the  result  of 
the  examination.  The  situation:  "treating  very 
gently  some  one  who  is  actually  being  hated"  breaks 
forth  very  plainly  and  it  contains  the  roots  of  the 
neurosis ;  the  latter  is  centered  chiefly  on  urolagnia 
and  coprolagnia. 

Mr.  Gino,  a  compulsion  neurotic  who  dreads  un- 
faithfulness, treason  and  dirt,  and  who  is  burdened 
with  a  compensatory  washing  mania,  dreams : 

(96)  I  am  going  to  a  prostitute;  first  I  visit 
Frau  Strabo  and  her  sister.  I  see  that  her  nose  and 
fingers  are  wrapped  up  in  white  bandages.  At  part-' 
ing  I  offer  her  my  hand  but  I  think  to  myself  I  can- 
not go  to  a  prostitute  for  I  have  to  go  home  first 
and  wash  my  hands  and  there  is  no  time  for  all  that 
to-day.  The  fact  is  I  am  afraid  of  spreading  some 
infection  if  I  should  not  first  wash  my  hands. 

This  subject  has  had  dream  No.  94.  His  fear  of 
contact  is  grounded  on  altruistic  motives:  he  is  not 
afraid  to  catch  the  infection  himself,  his  fear  is 
that  he  will  carry  and  spread  to  others  the  diseased 


306  Sex  and  Dreams 

germs.  This  fear  is  expressed  plainly  in  the  dream. 
We  note  that  the  fear  is  roused  through  the  fact 
that  he  had  shaken  hands  with  a  woman,  Frau 
Strabo,  whose  hand  was  bandaged.  Strabo  sug- 
gests to  this  subject — he  is  a  physician — strabismus 
and  he  talks  about  that.  He  himself  once  had  a 
squint, — internal.  In  this  connection  I  may  men- 
tion that  a  number  of  disturbances  of  vision  are  due 
to  self-imposed  punishment  for  seeing  what  is  for- 
bidden. The  patient  carries  out  upon  himself  the 
lex  talionis.  This  lex  talwnis  is  illustrated  in  the 
belief  that  looking  into  the  mirror  precisely  at  the 
midnight  hour  brings  on  blindness  and  in  the  belief 
of  pious  Jews  that  it  is  not  permissible  to  look  at 
the  Kohanim,  or  priests,  while  they  offer  the  bene- 
diction. I  recall  an  ocular  trouble  in  a  boy,  eight 
years  of  age,  which  the  attending  oculists  were 
unable  to  explain  and  which  was  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  boy  had  witnessed  something  he  should  not  have 
seen.8 

This  patient's  squinting  was  also  a  neurotic 
symptom:  he  has  "squinted"  too  eagerly  at  his 
mother's  and  his  sister's  charms.9  His  mother  took 

'One  of  my  patients  relates  that  his  mother  once  called  out 
to  him  while  she  was  urinating:  "don't  look  this  way  or  you 
will  be  blinded!" 

*  Cf.  Freud ;  Die  psycho  gene  Sehstorung  in  psychoanaly- 
tischer  Auffassung,  Aerztliche  Standeszeitung,  1910,  No.  9. 
Freud  expresses  the  punishing  power  of  the  conscience  as  fol- 
lows: "Because  you  wanted  to  misuse  your  sight  for  evil 
sensuality,  it  serves  you  right  not  to  be  able  to  see  at  all!" 


Interpretation  307 

care  of  him  after  he  underwent  a  nasal  operation 
and  her  tremendous  self-sacrifice  made  an  unforget- 
table impression  on  him.  But  ten  years  later  he 
also  had  an  operation  on  his  penis,  requiring  con- 
siderable after-care.  The  wound  did  not  heal 
readily  and  this  twenty-year-old  boy  was  bandaged 
daily  by  his  mother.  The  touch  of  her  delicate 
hands  roused  very  pleasurable  sensations. 

In  his  Familienroman  the  phantasy  of  the  mother 
as  Dime  played  a  great  role.  Also  in  his  masturba- 
tion phantasies.  On  account  of  the  latter  habit  he 
considered  himself  unclean  and  the  whole  washing 
mania  was  traceable  back  to  his  masturbation  habit. 
As  Freud  has  very  fittingly  pointed  out  the  manias 
refer  not  to  the  habit  itself  but  they  pertain  to  the 
accompanying  phantasies.  In  this  case  the  phan- 
tasies were  of  such  a  character  that  the  mother 
darin  zur  Dirne  gemacht  wurde.  .  .  . 

In  the  dream,  before  going  to  the  prostitute  he 
visits  Frau  Strabo;  that  is  the  manner  in  which  the 
dream  expresses  the  thought  phantasy  that  he  is 
calling  on  Frau  Strabo  and  that  the  latter  is  a  pros- 
titute: Strabo  he  identifies  with  a  prostitute.  Offer- 
ing her  the  hand  at  parting  is  a  reminder  of  the 
contact  of  his  mother's  hand  with  his  penis  and 
here  the  fingers  are  the  symbol  of  the  penis.  Also 
of  the  thought  that,  if  he  be  impotent,  he  will  carry 
on  digital  manipulations.  Thus  the  prostitute  be- 
comes unnecessary.  Naturally  his  reason  in  the 


308  Sex  and  Dreams 

dream  "he  must  go  home  to  wash  his  hands,"  is  a 
bit  of  dream  distortion  which,  when  read  inversely, 
means:  "this  phantasy  has  made  me  so  unclean  that 
I  ought  to  go  home  and  wash  my  hands !"  "No  more 
time  for  all  that"  refers  to  the  fact  that  on  the 
night  of  the  dream  his  mother  was  not  there;  she 
had  just  started  for  home  the  previous  evening, 
after  a  visit  of  several  days. 

The  fear  he  might  spread  some  infection  is  ob- 
vious; infection  through  prostitute  or  mother;  nose 
reminds  him  of  a  destructive  luetic  lesion  of  the 
part;  fingers,  of  psoriasis  palmarum.  But  Freud 
has  taught  us  that,  whenever  present,  these  fears  are 
decidedly  justified  on  the  part  of  our  patients.  In 
the  dream  too,  the  affect  stands  out  as  the  real 
valid  feature.  Everything  that  centers  around  the 
affect  may  be  changed,  transposed,  distorted.  But 
the  affect  retains  its  justification  even  under  trans- 
formation. 

And  here  we  discover  that  this  subject,  indeed,  has 
particular  reason  to  fear  the  danger  from  which  he 
would  protect  others.  The  fact  is  he  harbors  the 
thought  of  poisoning  his  father  and  brothers, — a 
phantasy  which  has  played  a  tremendous  role  in 
his  youth;  also  the  notion  of  knocking  them  down. 
He  feels  constrained  to  wash  continually  because, 
like  Lady  Macbeth,  he  wants  to  remove  the  blood 
stain  off  his  hands.  And  reduced  to  its  elementary 
form  the  anxiety  state  means:  "I  fear  that  my 


Interpretation  309 

criminal  passion  for  mother  might  induce  me  to 
injure  father  and  the  other  members  of  the  family. 
I  fear  this  especially  as  I  have  repeatedly  wished 
them  dead!"  Just  as  his  washing  mania  is  a  pro- 
tection against  the  moral  contamination  to  which 
he  felt  himself  exposed  and  at  the  same  time  sym- 
bolizes his  cleansing  off  his  hands  the  blood  of  the 
victims,  so  he  carries  out  other  remarkable  compul- 
sive acts  which  indicate  very  plainly  that  these 
Abwekrhandlungen  are  compromises  between  with- 
holding and  yielding.  He  sticks  the  right  index 
finger  into  the  hollow  of  his  left  hand,  carrying 
out  a  rotary  motion  and  he  rotates  his  hand  in  a 
peculiar  fashion  in  the  water.  Moreover  he  has, 
or  rather  has  had, — for  he  is  now  cured, — a  most 
peculiar  washing  ceremonial, — a  strict  ritual  he  had 
devised  and  this  too  was  cleared  away  through  the 
psychoanalysis  after  it  was  reduced  to  its  wish  con- 
notations.10 

A  minor  example  for  a  conclusion.  A  dream  of 
Sigma  (vid.  Dreams  Nos.  70,  71,  72,  73,  82,  83). 

(97 )  I  am  standing  in  an  open  place.    I  am  forced 

10  Poisoning  has  a  deeper  determination  in  the  significance  of 
poison  as  spermatic  fluid  and  of  poisoning  as  pregnancy. 
(Extension  of  the  second  symbolic  equation.)  One  of  my  pa- 
tients was  afraid  that  his  sister  would  become  pregnant  through 
the  water  in  the  bath  tub,  because  he  masturbated  while  bath- 
ing. Oino  had  the  same  fear.  The  widespread  fear  of  syphilis 
is  largely  motivated  in  the  same  way.  Poison  stands  also  for 
money;  money  for  penis:  vid.  Anthropophyteia,  vol.  VI,  p.  15. 
Thus  we  uncover  here  a  new  determination  for  the  anal-erotic 
avarice. 


310  Sex  and  Dreams 

out  or  else  compelled  to  keep  my  place  (?).  At  any 
rate  1  am  under  some  compulsion,  but  I  do  not  mind 
it. 

Analysis:  The  dreamer  has  proposed  marriage 
to  a  certain  girl,  a  step  he  has  since  often  regretted. 
A  short  time  afterwards  he  wrote  her  a  letter  break- 
ing up  the  engagement.  She  was  on  the  point  of 
committing  suicide.  He  became  engaged  a  second 
time.  Shortly  after  this  second  engagement  his 
severe  neurosis  broke  out.  All  that  is  expressed  in 
the  short  dream.  The  open  space  is  his  bride;  but 
"freier  Platz"  is  also  satire.  Any  one  else  was  wel- 
come to  his  bride.  He  took  up  a  "free  spot"  (lit- 
eral meaning  of  the  term). 

He  is  forced  out.  That  is  literally  true.  His 
sister  compelled  him  to  give  up  the  engagement.  In 
fact  she  dictated  the  letter  in  which  he  apprised 
the  girl  of  his  change  of  mind.  "Or  perhaps  com- 
pelled to  keep  my  place."  Also  true.  His  bride 
now  holds  on  fast  to  him  and  would  not  let  him 
free.  His  psychic  conflict  formulates  itself  as  fol- 
lows :  should  he  keep  his  word  and  marry  a  poor 
girl,  or  become  free  and  break  his  word  to  be  so. 
It  shows  also  a  competitive  struggle  between  two 
women  for  his  love:  sister  and  bride.  What  is  his 
wish?  He  is  not  self-reliant.  He  wants  to  be  led 
to  a  decision.  That  is  the  reason  why  he  is  appar- 
ently so  unconcerned.  But  his  "not  minding  it"  is 
the  greatest  hypocrisy.  It  should  be:  "I  am  im- 


Interpretation  311 

mensely  worried  over  this  uncertainty!"  The 
feigned  affect  of  indifference  is  a  pure  wish  fulfill- 
ment. How  clearly  his  doubt  is  expressed !  "Forced 
out"  or  "kept  down"  and  with  a  question  mark. 

Any  one  who  has  read  the  previous  dream  anal- 
ysis pertaining  to  this  case  will  see  at  once  that 
this  apparent  indifference  is  a  cover  for  affects  so 
tremendous  that  they  have  actually  led  the  subject 
to  the  brink  of  committing  suicide.  This  illustrates 
the  true  character  of  dreams  apparently  free  of 
affects.  The  absence  of  affectivity  in  this  case  rep- 
resents a  wish  fulfillment  in  the  midst  of  tremen- 
dous affects. 

Often  the  dreamer  wonders  about  some  occur- 
rence in  the  dream.  Let  us  analyze  a  dream  of  this 
type: 

(98)  In  Weihburg  street  I  saw  Mr.  Springer  sit- 
ting on  the  Kutschbock, — coach-box — of  a  carnage 
in  conversation  with  three  Hungarian  infantrymen. 
One  had  a  dark  mustache;  the  two  others  had  only 
little  blond  beards.  I  wondered  about  Mr.  Sprin- 
ger's conduct.  It  seemed  vulgar  and  degrading. 

This  Herr  Springer  represents  his  father.  He 
reproaches  his  father  with  his  own  adventures. 
(Springen, — bespringen, — begatten.)  The  carriage 
is  the  Englishwoman  with  whom  the  father  was  inti- 
mate. But  who  are  the  three  infantrymen?  The 
dreamer's  associations  lead  to  the  male  genitalia, 
— the  sexual  trinity.  The  big  one  with  the  heavy 


312  Sex  and  Dreams 

mustache  is  the  penis,  the  other  two  symbolize  the 
testicles.  His  father  had  given  too  much  thought 
to  his  genitalia. 

That  is  the  true  theme  of  his  surprise.  But  an- 
other infantilistic  reminiscence  o.ccurs  to  him.  The 
Hungarian  soldiers  with  their  narrow  trousers  re- 
minds him  that  he  has  once  played  with  dolls.  He 
examined  anatomically  each  doll  and  was  surprised 
to  find  no  genitalia.  Only  smooth  limbs.  No  open- 
ing anywhere.  Next,  he  tore  apart  the  dolls*  bodies. 
He  only  found  sawdust  within. 

He  came  to  the  conclusion  that  dolls  and  womeo 
had  no  "pipi."  That  surprised  him  very  much.  He 
saw  a  ballet  dancer  once,  Abel,  in  a  flesh-colored 
tights  and  he  called  out:  "Abel  has  no  'pipi.'  " 
For  years  afterwards  he  remembered  and  repeated 
that  incident. 

The  greatest  degradation  to  him  was  to  have  no 
"pipi."  He  indulged  in  revenge  fancies  in  which  he 
pictured  himself  as  tearing  off  his  father's  genitals. 
Why?  Because  his  father  had  threatened  him  with 
castration  to  cure  him  of  handling  his  private  parts 
as  a  child.  He  was  also  tremendously  attached  to 
the  Englishwoman.  Hence  his  boundless  jealousy. 
He  wanted  to  revenge  himself  by  castrating  his 
father. 

The  result  of  these  experiences  and  fancies  was 
a  psychic  impotence  of  which  he  was  cured  only 
through  the  analysis. 


Interpretation  313 

Wundern  (wondering)  leads  here  also  to  wound, 
— Wunde, — the  result  of  castration,  and  to  trauma, 
a  theme  which  we  have  already  dealt  with  previously. 

Observe  the  similarity  of  Weihburg  street  and 
Weihrich  (Dream  No.  92).  The  affect  of  wonder- 
ing, too,  is  spurious.  (Symbolic  equation  of  affects.) 
It  stands  here  for  anger  and  means:  "I  am  terribly 
worried  over  Mr.  Springer's  conduct." 

The  apparent  lack  of  affectivity  in  a  dream  is  al- 
ways an  interesting  problem.  Many  dreams  of  most 
horrible  content  seem  emotionally  colorless.  Why 
is  that? 

A  gruesome  dream  of  Freud's  finds  an  easy  inter- 
pretation which  explains  satisfactorily  the  absence 
of  affectivity. 

"The  dream  about  the  old  bridge'*  says  Freud, 
"which  confronts  me  with  the  task  of  sectioning  my 
own  pelvis  is  characterized  by  the  absence  of  the 
awe  proper  to  .the  situation.  That  is  a  wish  fulfill- 
ment in  more  than  one  sense.  The  sectioning  repre- 
sents the  self  analysis  which  I  carry  out  with  the 
publication  of  my  book  on  the  Interpretation  of 
Dreams, — a  task  so  unpleasant  that  I  have  delayed 
for  over  a  year  the  printing  of  the  finished  manu- 
script. The  wish  is  that  I  lift  myself  above  this 
handicapping  feeling, — that  is  why  I  experience  no 
awe  in  the  dream.  In  another  sense,  too,  I  wish  to 
overcome  my  feeling  of  aversion, — to  avoid  Grauen 
(Literal  sense:  turning  gray);  my  hair  is  turning 


314  Sex  and  Dreams 

gray  and  that  also  reminds  me  that  I  must  delay  no 
longer.  We  know  that  towards  the  end  the  thought 
breaks  forth  in  the  dream,  that  if  I  pursue  a  vacil- 
lating policy  towards  my  aim  I  may  have  to  leave 
the  task  to  the  new  generation."  (The  Interpre- 
tation of  Dreams,  Translated  by  A.  Brill,  Macmil- 
lan  Company,  New  York.) 

The  absence  of  affectivity  in  this  dream  of  the 
founder  of  the  new  science  of  dream  interpretation 
is  also  a  wish  fulfillment.  It  shows  Freud's  wish  to 
overcome  the  "inhibiting  emotions." 

Thus  even  the  emotionally  colorless  dreams  corro- 
borate the  principle  which  I  am  propounding :  There 
is  no  dream  without  powerful  affects.  The  power  of 
dreams  to  penetrate  consciousness  depends  on  the 
strength  of  the  dream-building  affects  as  well  as  on 
the  depth  of  the  slumber.11 

11  P.  Meunier  and  R.  Masselon,  Les  reves  et  leur  interpreta- 
tion (Blend  et  Cie.,  Paris,  1910)  arrive  at  the  same  conclusion: 
"La  logique  des  rdves  est  entierement  affective" 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


Affect,  262,  281,  283  passim, 

295,  308,  311,  313,  314 
Aggression,  109,  165,  179 
Anal  eroticism,  21T,  220,  257, 

304,  309 
Anger,  303 
Antagonism,  299 
Anthropophyteia,  48,  88,   148, 

181,  182,  184,  191,  199,  292, 

306 

Antithesis,  115 
Anxiety,  36,  89,  100,  103,  154, 

202,  221,  222 
Apoplexy   (fear  of),  263 
Art,   26 

Asceticism,  24,  258,  298 
Associations,  55,  96,  101,  103, 

120,  163,  188,  205,  224,  231, 

240,  243,  257,  276,  293,  294, 

296,  301 
Authority,  23 

Belief  (in  dreams),  17 
Bible,  29,  30,  93 
Bipolarity,  96,  115,  282 
Birth,  97,  98  passim,  107,  117, 

208 

phantasy,  87,  219 
Bisexuality,   66,   79,   103,   149, 
166,  179,  184,  195,  196  pas- 
sim,  198,   199,  204,  233 

Cannibalistic  trend,  277 
Castration,   143,  196,  220,  312 
Censorship,  170 
Character  traits,  201 
Circumcision,  79 
Coercion,  89 


Coitus  interruptus,  101 
Colloquialism,  35 
Complex,  132,  220 
Compromise,  201 
Compulsion,  222,  225,  284,  301, 

302 

Concepts,  115 
Condensation,  123,  135,  143 
Conflict,  169  passim,  239,  272, 

292 
Conscience,    18,   24,    163,   169, 

243 

Consciousness,  18 
Consolation,  44 

dream,  75 
Contrary    meaning,    112,    113 

passim 

Craving,  13,  21 
Criminality,  179,  184,  290,  302 
Culture,  18,  21 

Death,  24,  80,  97,  98  passim, 

102,  103,  107,  110,  135,  170, 

179,   219,   251,   296 
phantasy,  100 
wish,  254 
Defence,  109,  198 
Defloration,   83 
Demons,   15 
Devil  symbolism,  201 
Disappointment,   117 
Displacement,    139,    140,    144, 

150,    152   passim,    155,    161, 

166,  264,  272 
Distortion,  82,  93,  97,  107,  109, 

150,  161,  170,  175,  308 
Divinity,  200 


315 


316 


Index  of  Subjects 


Dizziness,  214,  260,  294 
Don  Juan,  117,  133,  210 
Doubt,  115,  188,  245,  272  pas- 
sim, 291 

compulsive,   272 
Dramatization,  21,  34 
Dream  thoughts,  126,  165 

work,  57 
Dress  symbolism,  198  passim 

Emasculation,  196 
Emotions,  inhibiting,  314 
Envy,  260 
Erectio,  79 
Eroticism,   89 
Excitation,  sexual,  40 
Expatiation,   296,  302 
Even  and  uneven,  223 

Fairy  story,  43 

Faust,  18,  19,  21 

Fear,  89,   100,   110,  151,   162, 

167,  177,  222,  306,  308 
Fellatio,  143,  145,  151,  217 
Fetichism,  220,  294 
Flesh  symbolism,  32 
Fixation,  emotional,  217,  219, 

231 

Flagellation,  223 
Function   (of  dream),  19 
Fusion,  65,  161,  164,  170,  220, 

225 

of  time,  87 
Future,  24 

Grandeur,  40 
Gratification,  sexual,  209 
Guilt,  feeling  of,  177 

Habitus,  201 

Hallucination,  18 

Hatred,  282,  299 
of   father,  215,  283 

Hermaphroditism,  psychic,  81, 
136,  143,  151,  156,  187,  195, 
198,  200,  201,  206,  209,  262 


Homosexuality,  109,  155,  166, 
170,  208,  219,  221,  261,  266 
Hysteria,  156 

Ideal,  25,  117 
Identification,  175,  191 
Impatience,  33 

Impotence,   34,   258,   259,   312 
Incest    phantasies,    151,    191, 

193,  194,  208,  216,  230,  232, 

245,  261,  263,  291,  292 
Inciters,  dream,  164,  271 
Indecision,  241 
Indulgence,  23 
Infantile    root,    74,    125,   131, 

144,  170,  215,  217,  271,  302, 

312 

Inferiority,  135,  201 
Inhibition,   18,   21,   103 
Instinct,    17,   109 
Interpretation,  31 
Inversion,  178 
Itching,    220 

Jealousy,  103,  274,  312 

Jesus,  17 

Job,  17 

Joseph's  dreams,  30 

Language,  19 

Latent  dream  thought,  56,  93, 

195 

Law  of  opposites,  109 
Left-handedness,  214,  221,  223 

passim 

Lesbian  trend,  202,  204 
Lex  talionis,  306 
Libido,  200 
Lingam,  112 
Linguistics,  110 
Love,  207,  209 

Male  "protest,"  195,  197,  207, 
Manifest   dream   content,   56, 

93 
Masturbation,    103,    151,    156, 

191,  192,  215,  265,  292,  307 


Index  of  Subjects 


317 


Maternal  body  phantasies,  83, 

103 
Meaning  (of  dreams),  56,  93, 

100,  108,  125 
Misophilia,  74 
Mistrust,  165,  245 
Morality,  180 
iuurder  phantasy,  290 
Myth,  46  passim 

Narcissism,  66 
Necrophilia,  184 
Negation,    97,   253 
Neuralgia,   180 
trigeminal,   204 
Neurasthenia,  238 
Neurosis,  23,  170 
Nonsense     (in    dreams),    293 

passim 

Nose  boring,  140 
Nurse  complex,  294 

Opposites  (law  of),  109 
Overdetermination,  74,  97,  257 

Parallel,  symbolic,  139 
Parsifal,   17 
Periodicity,  95 

Personality      (splitting     of), 
175,  176  passim,  180  passim 
Perversion,  89,  296 
Phantasies,  homosexual,  258 
Phantasy  dream,  67 
Pleasure,   18 
Poetry,  58 

Pollution  dreams,  224 
Potence,  40 
Psychoanalysis,  201 

Reality  of  dream,  16 
Religion,   46,  203 
Reminiscence,  early,  245 
Repression,  17,  183 
Resistance,  56,  202,  267 
Responsibility,  90 


Revenge,  146,  220,  302 
Right-sidedness,    222   passim 

Sadism,  277 
Scorn,  166,  239 
Self -control,  23 

reproach,  102 
Selfishness  of  dreams,  175 
Shame,  145 
Soul,  147 

Splitting  of  personality,  169 
Squint,  neurotic,  306 
Stereotypic  dreams,  223 
Substitution,  282 
Suicide    (thoughts    of),    171, 

174 

Surprise,  311 
Symbol,  28,  45 

bisexuality  of  sexual,  197 
Symbolism,  19,  26  passim,  34, 
36,  39,  45,  93,  107,  167,  225 

Tension,  sexual,  41 

Test  dream,  222 

Time,  23 

Transference,    47,    146,    150, 

155,  189 
Transposition,    74,    116,    139, 

145,   149,   194 
from  below,  109 
Trend,  criminal,  49 
Twilight  state,  49 

Unconscious,  48,  49   58 
thought,  125 
Unpleasure,  18 

Vertigo,  neurotic,  214 

Virginity,  183 

Vomiting,  symptomatic,  294 

Waking,  24 
Warning,  24 

Washing  ceremonial,  neurotic, 
309 


318 


Index  of  Names 


Watchful  persons,  163 

Water  dreams,  117 

Will  to  sleep,  20 

Wish   fulfillment,   19,  81,  23, 


24,  32,   75,  81,  85,  89,   133, 
202,  209,  228,  287,  311 

Wit,  49 

Wonder,  311 


INDEX  OF  NAMES 


Abel,  113 

Abraham,  47,  216 

Adler,  81,  109,  156,  166,  195, 

201,  204,  206,  214,  294,  298 
Aigremont,  67,  214 
Artemidoros  (of  Daldos),  30, 

31,  93,  152 

Baeder,  F.,  113 
Baumbach,  61 
Bechstein,  44 
Bethe,  147 
Binet-Sangle",  36 
Bleuler,  281 

Brill,  A.,  57,  222,  283,  314 
Buadem,  33 
Burger,  213 

Cardanus,  33 
Celsius,  252 

Eulenspiegel,  33 
Euripides,  254 

Feuchtersleben,  26,  160,  280 

France,  A.,  17 

Freud,  S.,  19,  26,  35,  36,  40, 
43,  49,  50,  57,  74,  97,  107, 
113,  115,  123,  152,  161,  175, 
196,  202,  222,  239,  271,  272, 
283,  302,  306,  308,  313 

Fliess,  196,  214,  221 

Ganghofer,  95 
Goethe,  162,  212 
Grillparzer,  25 
Grimm,  45 
Gross,  O.,  50 


Hebbel,   20,   26,   48,   55,   183, 

207,  270 
Heyse,  P.,  192 
Hirschfeld,  M.,  198 
Hitschmann,  50 

Inmann,  Th.,  87 
Jones,  E.,  38 

Kleinpaul,  R.,  27,  37,  108,  240 
Krauss,  F.  S.,  30,  48 
Kiirnburger,  14 

Lessing,  129 
Lichtenberg,  174,  186 

Marcus  Aurelius,  72 
Masselon,   R.,  314 
Maupassant,  250 
Meissner,  134 
Meunier,  P.,  314 
Miillendorf,  33 

Nassr-ed-din,  33 
Nietzsche,  15,  138,  183 

Rank,  O.,  48 

Riklin,   F.,   27,  43,  44,  45 
Ritterhaus,  45 
Riickert,   263 

Sadger,  196 

Schemer,  K.  A.,  40,  100 
Schiller,  263 
Schnitzler,  A.,  251 
Schubert,  37,  98,  110 
Shakespeare,  183 


Stekel,  239,  284 
Sudermann,  125,  128 
Swedenborg,  111 
Swoboda,  95,  196,  236,  252 


Index  of  Symbols  319 

Van  Teslaar,  25,  30,  58,  239 


Wagner,   106 
Weininger,  O.,  196 


INDEX  OF  SYMBOLS 


Acorn,  112 
Actress,  66 
Air,  132 
Apron,  193 
Assault,  108 
Assembly  House,  84 
Attack,  254 
Automatic  Eye,  183 
Automatic  phone,  65 

Baggage,  259,  289,  291 

Bass,  64 

Bicycle,  217 

Big  Dog,  190 

Bird,  187 

Baron  Rosenfeld,  146 

Bismarck,  120 

Bite    (on   Thigh),  205 

Birthday,  262 

Black  Shoe,  80 

Blinding  Light,  84 

Blood,   148,   266,   295 

Blouse,  198 

Blue  Grass,  79 

Boat,  204 

Boil,  141 

Books,  120,  243 

Box,  165,  170 

Breaking  in,  162 

Breast,   253 

Breast  pin,  271 

Broad  Path,  229 

Broken  Handle,  79 

Brother,  165,  264,  295 

Brown,    199 

Brush,  41 

Buelow   (Diplomat),  227 

Bumpkin,  183 


Burgomaster,  84 
Burials   (many),  264 
Bushes,  266 
Buttons,  256 

Candy,  239 

Carriage  ties,  88 

Carrying,  265 

Cat,  187 

Cemetery,  203 

Certificate,  155 

Chamber  Pot,  144 

Changes    (in    earth  surface), 

97 

Chest,  165 
Chip,   196 
Christ,  36 
Cigar,  208 
Cigarette,  197 
Clarinet,  40 
Climbing,   156 
Closet,  285 
Closed  Door,  178 
Closing  Shop,  261 
Club,  256 
Coffin,   263 
Comb,  202 
Confectioner,  129 
Cover,  256,  165,  256 
Court  Citation,  246 
Cousin,  215 
Cross,  180 

Crowd,  84,  261,  264,  300 
Crown  of  Thorns,  180 

Dagger,  300 
Dark  Man,  134 
Death,  80 


320 


Index  of  Symbols 


Departure,  257 
Dirty  Linen,  73 
Dog,  76 
Don  Juan,  38 
Dove,  275 
Draft,  165 
Draft  Horse,  88 
Drawer,  165,  285 
Dying,  252,  266 

Eagle,  66 
Earth,  97 
Eating,  65 
Elevation,  224 
Embrace,  154 
Emperor,  84 
Emperor's  Colors,  80 
Ends,  42 

English  Woman,  295 
Even  and  Uneven,  223 
Evening  Meal,  65 
Evening  Time,  84 
Evil  Eye,  112 
Examination  Test,  305 
Excrement,  107 
Eye,  112,  182 

Falling  (down  or  backwards), 

260 

Falling  (into  Abyss),  80 
Fig  Leaf,  42 
Fig  Tree,  112 
Finger,  150,  182,  183 
Fire,  169,  175,  220 
First  (to  get  in),  162 
Fish,  200 

Fish  Bladder,  183 
Flame,  226 
Floors,  256 
Fluids  (bodily),  148 
Food,  220 

Foot  Perspiration,  295 
Forced  out  (?),  310 
Forty  Degrees,  228 
Friend,  80 
Friend,  Father's,  195 


Frog,  200 

Fur,  140 

Funeral,  261 

Funeral  Procession,  84 

Gate  Opening,  84 
Ghosts,  261,  296,  300 
Globe,  78 
Gloves,  285 
Gold,  107 
Gold  Chain,  84 
Golden  Garments,  84 
Grave,  263 
Girl,  218 

Ground  Floor,  256 
Growth,  142 
Guardians,  Three,  84 

Hair  Dressing,  285 
Hall,  208 
Hand,  112 
Hand  Baggage,  292 
Hand  Grips,  256 
Heart,  253 
High  Official,  304 
High  Tower,  146 
Hoffburg,  120 
Hofftheater,  156 
Hole,  38 
Holy  Mother,  204 

Indifference,  310 
Incident,  120 
Inspection,  308 
Intruder,  178 
Iris,  38 
Iron  Man,  84 
Italian  Countess,  228 
Italy,  220 

Jeweller,  193 

Jewels,  285 

Jewish  Looking,  288 

Kneeling,  120 


Index  of  Symbols 


321 


language,  209 

Laundry  Bag,  73 

Lanterns   (Burning),  226 

Leaving,  84 

Left,  80 

Left  and  Right,  223 

Left  Side,  226 

Left  Foot,  210 

Life  Thread,  88 

Little  Horses,  208 

Little  Things,  285 

Lodge,  147 

Look,  peculiar,  215 

Man,  218 

Man   (uncertain  size),  129 

Meat,  150 

Menstruation,  73 

Miss  "King,"  215 

Missing  train,  291 

Money,  64,  229 

Monk,  38 

Monkey,  35,  278 

Moon,  78 

Mother,  185,  286 

Mouse,  199 

Municipal  Theatre,  84 

Murder,  252 

Museum,  182 

Nails,  180 

Naked,  264 

Nakedness,  205 

Narcosis,  82 

Night  Gown  vs.  Blouse,  197 

Nose  (eaten  away),  263 

Numbers,  243,  291 

Nun,  38 

Office  Room,  141 
Old  Acquaintance,  305 
Open  Space,  310 
Operation  (surgical),  82 
Outcry,  206 

Pain,  206 
Palais,  186 


Palm,  112 
Partition,  170 
Peak,  41 
Pearls,  240 
Pellmann,  132,  135 
People's  Anthem,  120 
Phoenix  Bird,  112 
Physician,  82 
Piano,  218 
Piano  Playing,  113 
Pillow  Cases,  73 
Pipe,  40 
Pi-pi,  312 
Playing,  113 
Pocket,  65 
Pocketbook,  291 
Poet,  82 

Poisoning,  239,  309 
Policeman,  162,  169,  170 
Preparations,  285 
Priests,  261 
Prostitute,  195 
Pustules,   203 

Quadrangle,  96 
Quiet  Figure,  84 

Rat,  199 

Receiver  (phone),  66 

Reception,  84 

Recital,  66 

Red,  240 

Reddish,  275 

Red  Order  Insignia,  84 

Red  (swollen),  Hands,  145 

Revolver,  156 

Right,  80 

Right  and  Left,  210 

Right  Side,  217 

Ring,  78,  79 

Road  to  Temple,  228 

Roast  Beef,  295 

Rolling  down,  224 

Room,  144 

Rope  Bridle,  88 

Rose,  240 

Row,  241 


322 


Index  of  Symbols 


Ruin,  224 

Running  Matter,  141 

Salome,  183 

Searching,  285 

Seed,  224 

Serpentine  Paths,  223 

Servant,  186,  170 

Setting  up,  186 

Shaking,  218 

Shellfish,  189 

Shore,  218 

Silent  Man,  154 

Sinking  down,  84 

Snail,  199 

Snake,  183,  199,  223 

Snaky  Path,  227 

Sofa,  190 

Son  (the  Little  One),  146 

Son-in-Law,  76 

Southern,  219 

Spain,  220 

Speaking,  148 

Spear,  80 

Spindle,  38 

Spiral,  225 

Spoon,  150 

Squeezing,  129 

Stairway  Climbing,  113 

Stamp,  38 

Standing  up,  228 

Stars  (Little),  240 

Strange  Child,  150 

Strange  Man,  190 

Strangulation,  150 

Struggle,  179 

Stumble,  266 

Sun,  220 

Surprise,  262 

Swelling,  149 

Table,  239 

Tailor,  301 

Tears,  44 

Technical  School,  113 

Telephoning,   64 

Temple,  229 


Ten,  291 
Tenor,  64 
Thirty-Five,  192 
Thread,  78 
Three,  298 

Throngs  of  People,  84 
Through  (done),  286 
Toe,  200 
Toilette,  285 
Tower,  41 
Tree,  97,  253 
Triangle,  80 
Trotting,  218 
Trunk,  165 

Ugly  Woman,  108 
Umbrella,  79 

Uncontrollable  Horses,  220 
Underbrush,  41 
Understanding,  209 
Uniform,  300 
Urine,  193 

Vine,  112 
Vomiting,  148 

Wall,  170,  171 

Washing  Hands,  308 

Watchman,  134,  170 

Watchman  (at  Gate),  84 

Wax  Figures,  184 

Weeping,  148 

"What  are  you  doing?"  163 

Wheel,  79 

White,  240 

White  Apple,  155 

Wild  Animals,  220 

Winter  Coat,  145 

Word,  112 

Writing  Desk,  285 

Xmas  Tree,  208 

Yellow  Shoe,  80 
Yellowish-Brown,  275 
Yolk  (Egg),  78 
Young  Boy,  204 


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